The Further Adventures of River Song
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: These are the continuing adventures of River Song set in the universe of my War of the Guardians series. This series starts shortly after the events at the end of War of the Guardians. Join River as she travels through time and space with the Metacrisis Doctor, who is still recovering from the terrible trauma inflicted on him by the Black Guardian, and several other familiar faces.
1. Chapter 1

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF RIVER SONG

I do not own Doctor Who, and I am making no profit off of this.

CHAPTER 1

The people of Undecimus were used to having archaeologists coming in from time to time to dig at the tomb of Hathor Demeter, the ancient queen who had ruled over their world long ago. They hardly blinked an eye anymore when new arrivals showed up asking for directions to the dig site. It didn't matter how strange that these archeologists were or even what species they were. The people who lived in the area around the tomb had seen it all.

Or they thought that they had until today. A woman with curly blonde hair suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood in the middle of the dig site with her meson blaster held out in front of her. She wasn't pointing it at anything but empty air so the local populace immediately started to pay attention to her. Especially because she had a big wide toothy grin on her face as if she were really enjoying something.

The locals began to look at each other with concern as they feared that maybe a crazy person had just come among them. They began to walk around slowly and deliberately so as not to alarm her.

Seconds later though, the locals finally saw what Professor River Song had been waiting for as an army of Daleks appeared out of nowhere and began to fire on her. River just kept smiling as she began to expertly destroy each and every one of them with a blast right through the center of their eye stalks. The Daleks were soon transformed into smoking piles of rubble lying all over the landscape while River didn't have a scratch on her.

The locals began to wonder if it was all over with when they all jumped with nervous anticipation as a wheezing groaning sound pierced the air around them signaling the arrival of yet another new visitor to their humble little world. The Metacrisis' TARDIS materialized out of thin air right in front of River, and her smile became even wider. As Donald Noble, the Metacrisis Doctor, stepped out and glared at River, she just laughed right in his face.

"You know a girl could get killed waiting on you to come and save her," River joked.

"River, you shouldn't have done that. That was extremely dangerous!" Donald yelled at her.

"I had to lead them away from all of those people. The Daleks consider me as almost as great an enemy to them as the Doctor so I knew that if I told them who I was that they would all follow me anywhere. Luckily, I was right. I led them here where there isn't anything but wide open desert as far as the eye can see, and there aren't that many people to worry about protecting. That's a lot better than trying to face them in the middle of London in 2013," River said.

"You could have told me about your plan, River. I was going crazy trying to track you down and find you. I was so worried about you," Donald admitted.

River's smile became even wider if that were possible over what he had just said. She was glad to see that it seemed like that he was starting to feel the same way about her that she felt about him. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself that she felt anything for him for the longest time; but after about a week of traveling alone in the TARDIS with him, she couldn't deny it any longer.

She knew that she was starting to fall in love with him when she found herself actually beginning to smile every time that he walked into the same room with her. Not that she was ready to admit that to him just yet. She still wasn't sure how he felt about things. Although that last remark was certainly a step in the right direction.

"So you were worried about me?" River said with that same grin still on her face.

"Of course I was. You've helped me so much in the last week. Without you, I don't think that I'd even be here today. I was in a very dark place after what I did to Rose. You've become a very good friend to me," Donald said.

River's face never changed but on the inside her hearts fell at his words. He only thought of her as a friend? She thought with growing resentment and anger.

Donald seemed to notice the change in her attitude somehow even without her expression changing to show it as he asked, "River, is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. Don't worry about it," River lied as she attempted to reassure him.

"Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it," Donald prodded.

"I'm fine. Really," River lied again.

She knew that she shouldn't be angry at Donald. He was just as thick as the original Doctor after all. He obviously had no more of a clue when it came to knowing that someone had fallen for him than he did. It had taken her forever to get the original Doctor to finally lower his defenses and let her in so she knew that she would have her work cut out for her from the start going into this. That didn't make her any less angry at him though. It took everything in her to keep from punching him straight in the mouth right now.

"Where are we then? This place looks familiar, but I can't quite place it," Donald said.

"I'm sure you have been here before. You've been everywhere else after all," River said.

"Oh, of course! The tomb of Hathor Demeter! I have been here before back when they were still building the place. That was years before she had even died yet. They started on the tomb when their leaders were still alive back then just like the Ancient Egyptians did for their pharaohs back on Earth," Donald said as he finally remembered.

"Thanks oh so much for the archeology lesson. It's not like I'm an expert in the field or anything," River said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just used to explaining everything to my companions as I go along," Donald said.

"I know but I'm not one of your companions, Donald. I'm just as smart as you are if not more so," River said.

"Yes, I've been made aware of that a lot lately. That plan with the Daleks was brilliant. It scared me to death, but it was brilliant," Donald admitted.

"Thanks. Praise from the master is praise indeed," River said.

"Don't mention that name to me. Rose might trust him, but I still don't," Donald said.

"I don't either. I do sympathize with him though. I was forced into being something that I never wanted to be too by someone else, and it took me a long time to break free from their control. Even when I did, the other Doctor still didn't quite trust me. So I believe I know what he's going through right now," River said.

"Kind of like me too I guess. I did something horrible under someone else's control also. It's a wonder that anyone still trusts me," Donald said as his mood darkened again.

River smiled at him and put her arm around him as she said, "No more of that feeling sorry for yourself stuff. You're going to have to get over that. People still trust you because they knew that that wasn't the real you. With me and Koschei though, they didn't know that because we were being manipulated all of our lives. No one knew the real us until we finally freed ourselves at last. I'm still not quite sure who the real me is even now. There is one thing that I do know for sure though."

"What's that?" Donald asked with his smile now having returned.

"I love being me. How many people can honestly say that? All of the terrible things that I've gone through have all led me to being this person right here right now. So I can honestly say that I wouldn't trade one moment of that for anything. There's only one thing that I regret, but I wouldn't change that either. I just want him to be happy," River said.

"You're a good woman, River Song," Donald said as he briefly hugged her. He knew that she was talking about the Doctor reuniting with Rose but didn't mention it.

"So while we're here why don't we join in on the latest dig into the tomb?" River said with eagerness both to get into the tomb and to change the subject.

"Why not? I'd love to see what it looked like after they finished it," Donald said.

The two of them began to walk toward the tomb entrance where they were met by a member of the expedition. It was a young brunette woman in a khaki outfit who was staring at River in awe.

"I saw what you did back there with those Daleks. That was amazing. I've never seen anyone fight like that," the woman said to her.

"Oh, that was nothing. That was what I call a light work-out," River said with a smile.

"I'm Lydia by the way. Lydia Price. My father's in charge of this latest expedition. I heard you say that you'd like to join it, right?" Lydia asked.

"That's right. I've always wanted to see what was in the tomb or rather I'd like to see if a certain something is in the tomb or not. I've always been curious about it," River said.

"You mean the Ring of Omega?" Lydia asked with a knowing smile.

"That's the one," River said.

"The Ring of Omega?" Donald asked with a bit of trepidation at its name.

"Yes. It was supposed to belong to the legendary Omega from the planet Gallifrey. Legend says that he actually managed to trap a singularity inside of the diamond in the ring. Of course that's just a story," Lydia said.

"Is it?" River asked.

"Of course it is. Omega was obviously very intelligent to create the Eye of Harmony from a singularity, but no one could put a singularity into a diamond. It's impossible. All of that talk about what the wearer of the ring could do is a lot of hokum too," Lydia said.

"What could they do?" Donald asked with his curiosity in high gear now.

"According to the legends, the person who wears this ring could command incredible power. They would be able to draw energy straight from the singularity inside of it after all. The stories about it talk about the wearer of the ring being able to destroy mountains with a gesture, kill anyone with a single glance, travel unaided through time and space, rearrange the molecules of any inanimate object and to reshape it into any form, and to be able to control the minds of others. That's just some of the powers that the stories talk about. There are many more. It's all made up of course," Lydia said with a laugh.

"Is it? I'd love to find out for sure," River said.

"So would I. Something like that would cause a great deal of trouble if it were to fall into the wrong hands," Donald said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Always thinking on the bright side, aren't you?" River asked.

"It's a needless worry. The ring doesn't exist anyway. It's just a story probably made up by the locals to drum up some income," Lydia said.

"I'd still love to look at it," River said.

"Of course. What's your name?" Lydia asked.

"I'm Professor River Song," River said as she shook Lydia's hand.

"River Song?" Lydia said with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Yes, dear. I know what you're thinking, but I didn't kill anyone. The Doctor is alive and well. That was all just a misunderstanding. I've even been pardoned of the supposed crime," River explained.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you were the subject of a lot of stories. They didn't always paint you in the best light," Lydia said with a hint of nervous tension in her voice.

"I'm sure. That doesn't make them true though. Any more than the stories about the ring are true. You don't believe everything that you hear, do you?" River asked.

"She's not a bad person at all, Lydia. I'm Donald by the way. Doctor Donald Noble. River's one of the best people I know," Donald said as he shook Lydia's hand now.

"Thanks, Donald, I appreciate the compliment. It would mean more though if you didn't know so many madmen and megalomaniacs," River joked.

Lydia laughed thinking that River was just making something up to be funny. She decided that she liked the woman and decided to trust in her own judgment and not in any rumors that she'd heard about her.

"Come on. I'll take you to see my father. I'm sure that he'll let you join us. You're well respected in archaeological circles after all. You helped find the Lost City of the Daleks. That was a big deal I remember," Lydia said.

River and Donald began to follow Lydia into the tomb as Donald asked, "Lost City of the Daleks?"

"Oh, yes. It was a marvelous find. As you can imagine though, there was quite a lot of trouble that was caused by finding it. I managed to fix everything in the end, however, so it all turned out okay," River explained.

"A whole army of Daleks was accidentally released from suspended animation though. That must have been pretty hard to fix," Lydia said.

"Not really. Not when you have a couple of cases of Nitro-9 handy. That formula comes in really handy sometimes," River said with a grin.

"Nitro-9? You've met Ace then?" Donald asked.

"Oh, yes. You were there when I met her remember? That whole mess with WOTAN?" River asked.

Donald looked at her in confusion for a minute; and then he said with his eyes widened, "That was a woman named Harmony though. Wait a minute. Harmony Waters. Oh, I'm an idiot! Of course! That was you. It's a play on your name."

"That's right, Donny. That was me back when I couldn't tell you my real name," River confirmed.

"Why couldn't you tell him your real name?" Lydia asked curiously.

"He hadn't met me yet, and he wasn't supposed to know who I was," River explained.

"What do you mean he hadn't met you yet?" Lydia asked as they continued to walk towards her father.

"I traveled back in time to his past," River said.

"You're a time traveler?" Lydia said in astonishment as she stopped in her tracks.

"That's right. We both are," River said pointing to both Donald and herself.

"I can't believe it. So you're Time Agents? That is so cool!" Lydia said with joy.

"Time Agents?! We're a lot better than Time Agents. We're Time Lords. Time Agents, hah!" Donald said with disgust in his voice.

River started to remind him that both of them were only half Time Lord and that he was mostly human, but she didn't want to ruin the moment for him. He had done this before during their week together. He would forget for a moment that he wasn't the original Doctor and make a mental slip just like the one that he had now.

"So you're from Gallifrey like Omega? Is that why you're here? Is the ring real after all then?" Lydia asked.

"I honestly don't know. That's what I've come here to find out. I've heard the legends about it for a long time, and I thought since I was here that I would try my hand at finding it," River said with eagerness.

"That is just so awesome. Now I really want to help all that I can. I'm going to have to talk my dad into this somehow," Lydia as she continued further down into the tomb with renewed determination in her step.

Lydia couldn't believe it. She was walking with real Time Lords. They were the stuff of legends, and they were right here with her.

Then Lydia remembered something else about the Time Lords that she had heard about. Wherever they went, trouble followed them soon afterwards.

This thought was still foremost in her mind, when she heard her father scream with terror. She began to race towards where she had last seen him now as her mind filled with all kinds of terrible thoughts.

As they reached Lydia's father's last known location, they saw the body of a man lying still on the floor. Lydia ran to the body and quickly turned it over. She sighed in relief as she could see that it was not her father but one of his staff instead. She hated herself for being relieved that another man was dead, but she couldn't help but feel glad that he wasn't her father.

She began to look for her father when she saw him up ahead walking towards her. He had a weird look on his face, and she began to wonder if maybe something had happened to him too.

"Dad? Are you okay?" Lydia asked.

"Step away from him, Lydia," River commanded her.

"What? Why?" Lydia asked.

"That's not your father anymore," Donald said.

"Of course it is. What are you two going on about?" Lydia asked in complete bewilderment.

"Look at his hand, Lydia," River said as she began to slowly move her new friend away from her father.

Lydia looked at her father's hand and saw a strange looking diamond ring on it. Her face was filled with horror as she realized what it must be.

"No! It can't be. Don't tell me," Lydia said.

"Your father found the Ring of Omega," River confirmed.

"No, that can't be," Lydia said still in denial.

Lydia's father finally shattered her disbelief forever as he said, "Oh, I'm afraid that it is, my dear. This body now belongs to me. When Koschei killed my original body, my consciousness was drawn to this ring and began to inhabit it. I sat here trapped inside of the ring for millennia hoping for the day that someone would find it and put it on. Now I am free again. Do you hear that? Omega is free!"

**Next: River Song and Donald Noble have to find some way to stop Omega before he reduces the planet of Undecimus to dust. Maybe their old friends, Dorothy and Polly, can help.**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place shortly after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two.**

"Let my father go. If you want a body, take mine. It's younger and stronger," Lydia offered.

"At the moment, I prefer this one. I'll keep your offer in mind though," Omega said with an ominous smile on his face.

"No, you'll take it now. Let him go," Lydia demanded.

"I like your spirit, woman. Maybe I could use you as my official chronicler. You could travel the universe with me and record my exploits for the masses. That may be the perfect role for you. You can be my biographer," Omega said.

"Is he for real?" Lydia asked River.

"I'm afraid so. He's a legend in his own mind," River said with a grin.

"Silence! None may cast aspersions on the greatness that is Omega!" Omega shouted.

"Listen, big fellow! You don't want to keep that body. Why don't you just go back into the ring, and we'll see about making you a new body back on Gallifrey. Maybe I can talk the High Council into cloning you one from your biodata extract," Donald said.

"Why should I put my life in the hands of those fools on the High Council when I have the unlimited power of a singularity at my command? I can do whatever I want now. I can reshape the universe, and no one and nothing can stop me," Omega ranted.

"Welll, that is true. You could do that. You could. However, where's the fun in that? Why don't you just retire, Omega? Collect your pension. I'm sure that the High Council owes you about a bazillion credits in back pay by now. You could settle down any place in the universe and just enjoy yourself. Sit back and have fun while you soak in the sun," Donald suggested.

"You are as insane as ever, Doctor. Or are you the other one, the copy? You are both just as infuriating as the other so I can never tell the difference between you," Omega said.

"Why thank you! You know that's the nicest complement you've ever given me," Donald said with a huge grin.

"Is he right in the head?" Lydia asked River.

"I wonder sometimes," River said with a wide smile.

"Oi!" Donald shouted.

"He is kind of handsome though," Lydia said as she looked Donald up and down appraisingly.

"Don't even think about it," River said in a threatening tone.

"Why is that then? Lydia's not exactly my type, but why do you care who thinks I'm handsome or not anyway?" Donald asked.

"Not your type? What do you mean I'm not your type?" Lydia said insulted.

"You are as infuriating as ever! I threaten to enslave the whole universe, and you prattle on about your love life!" Omega shouted in frustration.

"Well, you've got to keep your priorities straight. First, I've got to let this hopelessly infatuated girl down easily. I mean I know it's not her fault. Who could resist falling for all of this, eh?" Donald said as he pointed at himself and grinned.

"I just said you were handsome. I'm not hopelessly infatuated!" Lydia protested.

"Let it go, dear. You'll never be able to convince him. He thinks every woman that even looks sideways at him is in love with him. He's got a bit of an ego on him," River said.

"I do not," Donald said with a pout.

"You do. You know you do. You think that every woman in the universe is in love with you. You think that you're irresistible," River said.

"I didn't say irresistible. I am pretty amazing though. Why do you care anyway if a pretty girl thinks I'm handsome?" Donald asked intrigued.

"You think I'm pretty?" Lydia asked as her face turned red.

"Yes, yes. You have a nice face. Who cares? Get over yourself, Lydia. You too, Casanova! We have a real problem here," River said pointing to Omega.

"Finally, one of you takes me seriously," Omega said in appreciation.

"Of course I do. I think that you're a serious nutcase," River said with a toothy grin.

"You dare! I could reduce you to ashes for such a taunt," Omega shouted.

"You see, Lydia, the thing about Omega is that you have to keep him busy by constantly undermining his ego and his sense of self-worth. You keep attacking those, and you can keep him distracted," Donald said as he took Lydia aside as if he were having a secret conversation with her.

"Distracted from what?" Lydia asked.

"From them," River said as her smile grew even wider.

Ace and Polly suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Ace had a Vortex Manipulator on her wrist and kept staring at it like she'd like to smash it.

"I hate these things! I really don't know why you like using them so much, Harm," Ace said.

"I told you once before that my name is actually River, Ace. Harmony Waters was a name I made up to preserve the timestream so that your Doctor wouldn't know who I was," River said with a sigh.

River had finally gotten to talk to Ace about the whole incident with WOTAN and the Black Guardian when she had dropped Polly and her grandchildren off to see the Doctor recently. It turned out that Ace had been holding her tongue about that whole event from the moment she had started traveling with the current Doctor. She had been dying to talk to River about it all of that time but knew that she couldn't until it happened for River too. Now that it had, the two of them and Polly had begun to bond and become friends over that whole experience that they had shared together.

"I understood you perfectly, but I prefer to call you Harm. I think it suits you. You do have a little bit of a reputation for hurting people after all," Ace said with a grin.

"Just let it go, River. I tried for a long time to keep her from calling me Professor, but it never took so I just gave in and went with it," Donald said.

"I thought that you were the clone," Ace said in confusion.

"I am. I just forget sometimes that I'm not real," Donald said sadly.

"I never said that you weren't real. I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean anything by it," Ace apologized.

"You actually apologized to me about something. That almost never happened in the old days. Thanks, Ace. Maybe you should call me something else besides Professor though. You might get the other guy confused as to who you're talking to sometime," Donald said.

"Alright. How about Donny? Donna seems to like it," Ace said maliciously.

"No, pick something else," Donald said with a frown.

"At least it's not as bad as what she calls me," Polly said.

"What's wrong with it? You said that your husband used to call you that," Ace said.

"Yes, but I hated it. I grew used to him calling me that and eventually thought it was sweet but only coming from him," Polly explained.

"What does she call you?" River asked with her curiosity now inflamed.

"Duchess," Polly said in a low voice.

"Oh, yeah. I remember him calling you that. He only did it in fun because he knew that it got your goat. I think it's nice. It kind of honors his memory," Donald said.

Polly looked at him strangely, and he had to explain just who he was.

"I'm the Doctor too, Polly. I call myself Doctor Donald Noble though. I'm kind of the original Doctor's clone, but it's much more complicated than that," Donald explained.

"It always is where you're concerned," Polly said with a smile.

"I've had enough of this mindless prattle! I am Omega, and I will not be denied! I will crush each and every one of you now, and then I will destroy this stupid little world that has been my prison for so long. The universe will be mine to do with as I wish," Omega said with a smile of pure joy on his face.

"Oh, shut it! We all know that you can't do anything. You would have already done it by now if you could have. Lydia's father is still in there, isn't he? He's keeping you from hurting anyone especially her," River said with confidence.

"What about the man that he killed when we first found him?" Lydia asked still unconvinced of River's statement.

"He didn't kill anyone at least not directly. The man that we found dropped dead of a heart attack, didn't he? He was frightened when you first manifested and took over that body, wasn't he?" River asked Omega.

"It's all lies. I can kill any of you if I wish. I am being benevolent at the moment, but that can change at my whim. Do not dare to test my kindness further!" Omega said.

"Baloney! You're not being kind. You're not capable of kindness. You haven't done anything because River's right. You can't do anything as long as you're inside of that man's body. His mind is too powerful for you," Donald said.

"You lie. I'll kill you right now!" Omega threatened.

"Please hurry up, and do it then. I'm getting annoyed by his constant talking anyway," River said with a confident smile.

"Oi! I'm not that bad," Donald said miffed.

"I've had to talk myself out of shooting you several times over the past few days. I've just barely won each time," River said.

"What made you decide not to?" Donald asked.

"I decided that I'd miss your handsome face. You know I'm just hopelessly infatuated with you after all just like all of us females are," River said sarcastically.

"I'll prove just how dangerous I really am. I'm going to destroy you, Doctor!" Omega shouted.

"Well, at least he still calls me Doctor. I will give you credit for that, Omega," Donald said grinning.

Omega began to start glowing all over, and his hands started to glow even brighter than the rest of him. He moved threateningly towards Donald and placed his hand on Donald's shoulder. Donald started to scream in pain as Omega laughed.

"Donald!" River screamed as she quickly realized that he wasn't faking.

Ace sprang quickly into action and used her Vortex powers to attack Omega. She pushed him away from Donald with a small controlled explosion that quickly separated the two of them. River then grabbed Donald and quickly pulled him away from Omega's reach.

Donald was unconscious now, but River could see by checking him over quickly that he was alright. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was now mentally kicking herself for urging Omega to attack him. If he had died, it would have been her fault.

"I thought you said that he couldn't hurt anyone as long as my father was in control," Lydia said.

"Something has changed somehow. Omega must have been constantly attacking your father's mind until he finally wore it down and gained control at last," River explained.

"You're absolutely right. You thought that you were being oh so clever by mocking my temporary inability to fight you, but you only succeeded in making me angry. Making me angry only helped me to fight back against the original owner of this body even harder until I finally won. Now I can do what I've been trying to do since I first regained a corporeal form. I am going to make this universe mine at last. Say good bye to your world as you know it!" Omega said with maniacal laughter.

Reality started to reform itself around them then, and they all gasped as the tomb became a massive throne room with Omega sitting in the center of it. Omega was being fanned by inhabitants of the planet who were now enslaved to his will.

"So far I have only been able to change the reality of this world, but I am slowly gaining more and more control over my abilities. Once I can extend that control past this planet, then I will destroy it and move out into the universe. Soon I will be able to control the universe as easily as I can control this world," Omega boasted.

"Nobody controls me, buddy," Lydia said.

"Really? Bow down before me," Omega commanded.

Lydia fought it every step of the way, but she did eventually bow down until her head touched the floor. She said defiantly, "If I ever break your control over me, I'm going to split your lip! Do you hear me?"

"You will never get to fulfill that promise. I am letting you keep your sense of self only because I want someone around who can appreciate my victory. Make no mistake though. Just because you can still think for yourselves doesn't mean that you're not already under my control," Omega said.

"You have to have us around, don't you? You can't stand not having someone that you can brag to," River said.

"Keep talking, Professor Song, and I will turn you into my fan bearer just as these women are. I think that I would enjoy that actually," Omega said with a sneer.

"You really are a chauvinistic pig, aren't you?" River said with disgust.

"Be careful how you talk to me, or I will crush the life out of the clone Doctor. I know that you don't want me to do that. You'd never forgive yourself if I killed the man that you love because of your actions, would you?" Omega mocked her.

River said nothing, but she glared at him with fury in her eyes. She wanted to take him apart, but she was sure that if she tried it that he would be able to stop her just as quickly as he had taken control of Lydia.

"It's useless to think thoughts of revenge. There is nothing that you can do now. Just be glad that you still have your own thoughts to think. The five of you are the only ones on this planet who can still say that or anything else for that matter now. You will go with me to see my final victory over the universe once my powers have been fully established at last. Once I have gained control over all things, I want you there to witness it. You will bear final witness to the glory and majesty that is Omega!" Omega shouted.

"Can't someone please shut him up?" Ace said as she rolled her eyes.

"Apparently not because I've been trying to move for the last few minutes now, and I can't," River admitted.

"Me either, or I would have already tried to blow him up by now," Ace said helplessly.

"What are we going to do?" Polly asked.

"As soon as Donald wakes up, we're going to put our heads together; and we're going to beat Omega somehow before it's too late. He left us still able to think even if we can't do anything else, and that's going to be his undoing. We're got to stop him soon before it's too late," River said.

She had a plan to stop the mad man, but she was going to need everyone's help to do it. She could only hope that the five of them together would be strong enough to pull it off because she really didn't fancy spending the rest of her lives as Omega's fan bearer.

**Next: River reveals her plan to defeat Omega. Will it succeed? **


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place shortly after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two.**

When Donald finally woke up, he and River established a telepathic connection between themselves and Ace, Polly, and Lydia. Once they were all connected to one another, River started to explain her plan to defeat Omega.

_We're going to combine all of our wills together in order to overcome Omega's. We'll need to concentrate on suggesting to him that one of us is invisible. We're going to convince him that that person doesn't exist. _River explained.

_What is this person going to do then? _Ace asked.

_Walk right up to him, and take the ring right off of his finger_. River answered with a sly grin.

_Do you really think that this is actually going to work? _Polly asked.

_Who knows? It just might. Crazier things have happened. _River responded with a mental chuckle.

_That really fills me with confidence._ Lydia said as she rolled her eyes at her.

_We need to decide which one of us is going to be the invisible one now. Any volunteers? _Donald asked.

_I'll do it. He's my father. Maybe if he's still in there somewhere, he'll help us in some way in order to protect me. _Lydia volunteered.

_We're all agreed then. We're all going to concentrate on Lydia. She's invisible. We're going to convince Omega of that one simple thing. Lydia does not exist._ River instructed.

They all closed their eyes and combined their willpower then as they concentrated over and over on that one thought. Omega saw them and realized what they were attempting to do if not what their specific plan was. He began to laugh at them.

"How foolish you all are! Even your wills together are as nothing compared to mine. I am Omega! I kept an entire universe in existence all by myself for millennia just with the sheer force of my will. You will never overcome me!" Omega shouted at them.

"We're not trying any such thing, Omega. We were actually trying to come up with one thing about you that doesn't repel us. We're still thinking," River joked.

"I know. It's very, very hard. I can usually come up with something good to say about everybody, but I even can't do it this time," Donald said with a grin.

"Well, he does have a well-developed ego. There is that," River said.

"Yes, but he uses it to bash people with. All I can hear is about how great he is, and how much better he is than all of us. He's really just a great big gas bag if you ask me," Ace piped in.

"To be fair, Ace, the poor man has no body. He has to have something to feel good about," Donald said.

"It's too bad I can't just blow him up and put him out of our misery. Then we'd all have something to feel good about," Ace said.

"That's so mean, Ace," Polly said with a chuckle.

"I don't know if you've noticed it or not, Duchess, but I'm kind of a bad girl," Ace said with a proud grin.

"Well, you don't have to be so proud of it," Donald admonished her.

"I say that being a good girl is overrated, Donald. Being bad is much more fun," River said.

"I'll agree with that, Harm," Ace said.

"Don't call me Harm. My name is River," River said with a frown.

"Harm just seems to suit you though. What kind of a name is River anyway?" Ace said.

"River is a brilliant name. I like it. It really suits you I think," Donald said to River.

"You think so?" River asked.

"Oh, yes. It's just as brilliant as you are I think," Donald complimented her.

"Why thank you, Donald," River said.

"Silence! I will have no more of your foolish babble," Omega shouted at them.

"For once, I'm going to have to agree with him. Watching the two of you flirt with each other is pretty sickening," Ace said.

"I think it's very nice, Ace. They make a cute couple," Polly said.

"You would think it's nice, Duchess. I think it makes me want to vomit," Ace said.

"We're not a couple," Donald said indignantly.

"We weren't flirting either," River lied. She knew full well that she was even if Donald wasn't.

"Yeah, right, and my jacket isn't covered in badges," Ace said sarcastically.

"Silence! I said be silent! All of you!" Omega shouted.

"Now, Omega, you're going to have to stop talking to us like that, or I'm going to start thinking that you really mean it," River said.

"I know. He's coming really close to hurting my feelings," Donald said.

Unwatched by any of them during all of this banter, Lydia had slowly made her way closer and closer to Omega. She had been trying not to make any sudden movements so as not to be suddenly noticed by him and break the illusion that she didn't exist if indeed it was working. It must be though because she could actually move now where none of the others could.

Now she was almost right next to Omega. She was close enough to touch him. Just a little bit longer, and she would be able to snatch the ring right off of her father's finger and free him.

River and Donald began to concentrate even harder now as they saw briefly out of the corner of their eyes that Lydia was almost to the ring. Not that Omega could tell that by the constant banter that they were using to cover this whole plan of theirs up.

"I believe that he's just kidding around with us, Donald. I bet Omega's really enjoying every moment of our conversation," River said.

"Well, of course he is, who wouldn't enjoy listening to us talk. We're both brilliant, and it's just so interesting to hear each and every word that we have to say. We're both just . . . ," Donald paused then.

He turned to River and asked, "What's a good word to describe both of us?"

"Fantastic?" River said with an evil grin.

"No. The other Doctor and I don't use that word anymore. We both agreed that that's Shouty's. It's the one good thing that he had going for him. He had no sense of style. That much was obvious from the way he dressed like he just came out of a really desperate biker gang. He also had the huge satellite dish ears. The poor fellow had no discernible sense of humor either that I could ever find. All he had was that one clever catchphrase. We just can't take that away from him," Donald said with a huge grin on his face.

"Donald, you're something of a bad boy yourself, aren't you?" River asked flirtatiously.

"Wellll, I have been told that on occasion, yes," Donald said with a wink at her.

"Oh, this is just disgusting. I can't take it anymore," Ace said as she pretended to gag.

"Silence! You will all remain silent. I will ensure this by taking away your ability to speak," Omega said.

Suddenly the four of them were all rendered speechless. They could no longer as much as clear their throats now. Donald was still not deterred though. He began to communicate with River by blinking his eyes in Morse code.

She's just about to remove the ring now. I hope this works. Donald said in code with his eyes.

_Why on Earth are you communicating in that way? We still have telepathy you know._ River thought to him in exasperation.

I know but it's more fun to communicate to you this way. It feels like I'm getting away with something. Donald replied with his eyes again.

River rolled her eyes at him without replying.

"Now you see, don't you? My will is supreme and not to be denied. Now you see why I am the one who has triumphed!" Omega shouted as he held his hands out in a dramatic gesture.

That was when Lydia quickly pulled the ring off of his finger. She held it out in her hand as she screamed with joy. Her father regained control of his body and looked at her as if he had just come out of a daze.

"Lydia? It worked! Oh, I'm so glad that it worked. I could feel what your friends there were trying to do, and I added my wills to theirs. I'm so glad that you're alright," the old man said as he hugged her tightly.

"I'm fine, Dad. We both are now. We've even got this old ring. We actually found the legendary Ring of Omega," Lydia said as she held the ring up in her hand.

"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea," Donald said.

"I'm keeping it. It's going to make this whole dig worthwhile," Lydia insisted.

"I'm afraid that ring is much too dangerous for us to allow you to keep it," River said.

"What ring? There is no ring. It doesn't exist," Lydia suddenly said.

River now had a blank look on her face as did everyone else. They all looked at Lydia in confusion and couldn't even see the ring that was now on her finger.

"It's too bad that we didn't find anything on this expedition. Still it was nice to have gotten the chance to look inside of this old tomb. It was very nice to meet you as well," River said to Lydia.

"Oh yes, it was. I'm glad that I finally got to see what they did with the place too. Well, I guess this is good bye then," Donald said.

"Is it?" Lydia asked innocently.

"Unless you want to come along with us that is. Do you?" River asked.

"Well yes. I'd love to," Lydia said with a sneaky smile.

"Lydia, what's happening? Why are they acting so strangely?" Lydia's father asked.

Lydia looked at him with a warm smile as she said, "I'm wearing the ring now, Dad. It's allowing me to control their minds."

"What?" Her father said in shock.

"It's okay. Omega and I came to an agreement. I get to use the power and keep my own will. In exchange, he doesn't get stuck back in the ring again. He gets to inhabit my body but only as an observer. I won't do anything bad with it I promise. I just want to go explore the universe with my new friends here. Maybe I can even use the ring to help them. They're time travelers, Dad! How fantastic is that?! I get to see all of time and space!" Lydia explained.

"You can't do this. Omega can't be trusted. He'll turn on you sooner or later and take you over like he did to me," the old man warned her.

Lydia kissed her father on the cheek and said, "I know what I'm doing, Dad. This is my one chance to get out of here and have a life of my own. I was never going to do anything stuck here on these digs. I love you, but I've got to have my own life. This is my way to do it. Good bye, Dad."

Lydia's father suddenly had the same blank look on his face and then he said, "It's so good that your new friends are going to take you to see the universe. Good bye, honey. Try to come back and see your old man sometime, will you?"

"I will, Dad. I promise," Lydia said.

She felt terrible for erasing her father's memory of the ring, but she had to. It was the only way that she could have a real life at last.

"Come along, Lydia. We've got all of time and space to explore. Is there anywhere that you'd like to go first?" River asked with a huge smile.

"It doesn't matter to me. As long as it's far, far away from here," Lydia said.

"Let's go then. Allons-y!" Donald said as he led the way back to his TARDIS.

"I prefer Geronimo myself," River said.

"No, that one belongs to Chinny. It's all that he's got, the poor fellow," Donald joked.

As Lydia followed the rest of them into the TARDIS, she smiled. She was free. Free at last to do whatever she wanted to, and the whole universe was now her playground.

Deep inside of her mind, Omega laughed. He couldn't believe the gullibility of these humans sometimes. He would bide his time and stay hidden for now. Then when the moment was right and he had finally completely mastered the power of the ring, he would reveal himself at last and finally triumph. The best part was that no one even knew that he was still alive. Soon he would take over the entire universe, and no one would even see it coming!

**Next: River and her friends come across Madame Kovarian and the Silence. **


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two.**

Donald's TARDIS materialized on a planet called Octavus, and his face seemed to brighten up when he saw its name on his coordinates. He seemed to be lost in memory for a moment as River walked up to him.

"I take it that you've been to Octavus before?" River asked.

"Yeah, back in the good old days just before the Time War. That was when I wore a green velvet jacket and walked around with a pocket watch. It was very early in my eighth incarnation right after I had first regenerated and left Grace Holloway behind in San Francisco. I got involved in a little fight with some Cybermen who were there to take over the planet, and it turned out that I found this stowaway aboard one of their ships while I was searching for a way to sabotage it," Donald said.

"Really? How did she manage to keep from being discovered by the Cybermen? She must have been pretty resourceful," River said.

"Oh, she was, and I imagine she still is wherever she is now. I hope that she's alright," Donald said with a wistful look on his face.

"What was her name?" River asked.

"Megan!" Donald shouted.

"Well, you don't have to shout," River said with surprise.

Donald went racing out of the TARDIS, and left River standing there looking at him like he had just broken out of a straightjacket.

"What's he up to now?" Polly asked coming up behind her with an amused expression on her face.

"Who knows? Maybe he's finally lost it this time," River joked.

"He's not bonkers, Riv. He's just seen someone he knows on the monitor over here," Ace pointed out.

Both women looked to the monitor where Ace had directed them. They could see Donald talking to a young brunette woman who looked like she was around twenty years old. He wrapped his arms around her and began to hug her tightly on the spot. River could already feel her hands starting to clench into fists at the sight.

"Calm down! You don't want to kill every woman he shows some affection to, do you?" Lydia asked with a chuckle.

"Of course not. If I did, then I would have started with you first. Of course, the jury's still out on whether or not I'll change my mind about that though," River said with a big smile on her face.

"Don't even joke about that, River," Donald said as he came back into the TARDIS with the woman that all of them had just seen him talking to on the monitor.

"Who's joking?" River said as she looked at Lydia with an ever widening grin on her face and a dead look in her eyes as she stared her down that made Lydia shake a little.

"Stop that, River. She doesn't know that you're just kidding around," Donald reprimanded her.

"You don't let me have any fun. I can't even terrorize the new girl," River said with a chuckle.

"I like her. She's got a healthy sense of humor," the woman with Donald said as she laughed.

"You are?" River asked.

"I'm Megan Harris. I used to travel with the Doctor a long time ago. It was about twenty years ago now I guess," Megan said as she stuck her hand out.

River shook her hand as she said, "You look remarkably full preserved for your age then. You couldn't look this young and have traveled with him twenty years ago unless you took her on as a companion when she was an infant which I wouldn't put past you."

"I'll ignore that remark. Megan's is a special case. You see Megan isn't human. She's a . . . ," Donald looked at her before he continued as he asked for her permission before he said any more.

"It's okay. You can tell them," Megan said with a warm smile.

"He doesn't have to tell me. You're an android. I recognized it the minute you walked in here. Your handshake confirmed it. It was much too strong to be a human's," River said.

"I didn't hurt your hand, did I? I thought that I had mastered being able to shake hands without squeezing too hard," Megan asked with concern.

"No, you did just fine, dear. You didn't squeeze too hard, but it was much harder than a normal person. I also could tell that you were an android by the fact that you don't blink often enough. You're trying very hard to act and move like a human being, and you're doing a very good job of it for the most part. You would have fooled most people so don't feel too bad that I caught you. I used to date an android once so I know all of the tricks about how to spot them," River said.

"Well, that's a relief. I wanted to stay human as much as possible. I hope that even after all of this time that I still act like one," Megan said with a worried expression on her face.

"Oh, you do, dear. Don't worry. I can tell that you're still very much human just by the worry about it that's showing on your face right now," River said with a compassionate smile.

"Thank you," Megan said with a look of relief.

"So you're saying that you used to be human?" Ace asked in fascination.

"Yes, when I first met the Doctor I was a stowaway on a Cyber Ship. The Cybermen had invaded Earth, and I snuck onboard to see if I could find some way to sabotage their ship. I couldn't really do anything to them though, and all I did was manage to get caught by them. I was just really stupid back then. They had partially converted me by the time the Doctor drove them away from Earth. He never met me that time. I just heard from the others that he had destroyed most of them when they were fleeing from him. Then they had the rotten luck to run into yet another Doctor not too long after that when they attacked this planet. I took advantage of that Doctor's attack on them to break away from them and pass myself off as a regular girl so that he'd take me away from them," Megan explained.

"You were a Cyberman?" Polly asked in surprise.

"Yes, I was partially. They never converted me completely though. They had to stop the process when the Doctor stopped their takeover of the Earth," Megan explained.

"How long did it take you to find out that she wasn't human, Donny?" Ace asked.

"Donny?" Megan asked in surprise.

"Don't call me Donny! I'm not totally the Doctor that you remember, Megan. I'm more like his clone. I am the Doctor and yet I'm not. I'll explain later. The original is going to love seeing you again though. To answer your question, Ace, I discovered it when she was hit by a bullet once in 1930s Chicago. She kept telling me that she was fine, and I wouldn't leave her alone until I found out the truth about her. She was terrified that I was going to kill her when I found out, but I put her mind at ease about that right away. The fact that she was so afraid about me finding out about her partial conversion let me know that she wasn't a real Cyberman because they don't have emotions," Donald explained.

"So how did you go from being a Cyberman to becoming an android? That's a big leap," Polly asked.

Donald started to look very guilty, and Megan started to laugh. She had a very normal sounding laugh Polly thought. She didn't sound or act anything like a machine at all.

"Don't tell me that you still feel guilty about that? I'm happy with living like this. I'm just fine. Stop beating yourself up over it! You carry the most guilt around with you of any person I've ever met," Megan said as she put her arm around him in a one-armed hug.

"He excels in guilt, Megan. If guilt were able to power a starship, we could use all of his guilt to send us to the other side of the universe and back again without ever having to refuel it once and still have plenty of it left over," River said.

"What happened to you then?" Ace asked intrigued.

"We were fighting with some Daleks when they detected that I was part Cyberman. They had a real grudge against the Cybers for some reason, and they decided that they really wanted me dead. They shot me several times, and I was near death when the Doctor rescued me from them. He was crying and all upset. He kept blaming himself for it even though I certainly let him know that I didn't blame him one bit. He took me to this race called the Movellans. They built me an exact duplicate of my body and transferred my brain into it. At first I freaked out when I woke up because I was afraid I would lose my humanity, and I said some things that I shouldn't have to the Doctor about bringing me there. I apologized about it though later when I realized that I was still me. I'm okay with this now, so don't be upset," Megan said as she smiled at Donald.

"How long did you say that you traveled with the Doctor? You should know better than to ask any version of the Doctor to not be upset or feel guilty about something that happens to one of his companions. It's never going to happen," River said with a knowing smile.

"I know, but I keep hoping that he'll outgrow the brooding and moping stuff sometime," Megan joked.

"I would never think of you as an android at all if no one had told me," Polly said in amazement.

"Thanks! That's the best compliment that you could give me," Megan said.

"So were you and the Doctor ever . . . ," River asked without finishing her question.

"Ever what?" Megan asked confused.

"Androids are anatomically correct usually so I just wondered if you and him ever . . . ," River asked again without finishing the question but with a huge smile on her face this time.

Megan and Donald both understood what she meant at the same time, and both of them actually blushed in embarrassment. They began to get very nervous and started to actively deny it.

"No! Never! He and I were just friends. The Doctor's like a monk. Everyone knows that," Megan said defensively.

"Oi! I wouldn't go that far. I just don't fool around with my companions. It's not the way I do things," Donald said.

"You certainly kiss them enough though," River commented.

"He never kissed me," Megan said with a trace of anger in her voice.

Then she quickly added, "Not that I ever wanted him to, of course."

"Of course not," River said with a chuckle.

"River, just stop it! Megan and I were friends, and that's all. Why do you care anyway?" Donald asked.

"I don't really. I'm just curious that's all," River lied.

"Would you like to travel with us for a while then? I was just about to explore this world again when I saw you wandering around out there and just had to say hello," Donald asked Megan.

"Sure, it'll be just like old times. I've missed doing this to be honest with you," Megan said with a grin.

River looked very unhappy about that, and Megan noticed it right away. She could guess that River had her sights set on Donald and saw her as a potential rival.

"I'm no threat to you," Megan whispered in River's ear to reassure her when Donald walked over to the console for a minute.

River nodded at her and smiled in appreciation. It amused her greatly that even an android could see that River had feelings for Donald and yet the man himself still had no clue about it.

All of them then left the TARDIS as Donald led the way. He walked around with a huge grin on his face as he talked over old times with Megan. River believed Megan when she said that she had no interest in Donald, but she couldn't help but want to punch both her and Donald right in the jaw the longer that he spent with her.

"Someone's jealous of a machine," Lydia teased her with a grin.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself if you don't want to be wearing a wig to cover up the huge scorch mark on your scalp," River warned with a large smile on her face.

"River just doesn't like me at all. I was just kidding around," Lydia complained to Polly.

"I don't really know River that well yet, but I think that I know her enough by now to say that if she didn't like you she would have just shot you instead of warning you about it," Polly said with a giggle.

"Why are you on this planet for anyway? Did you come back for old time's sake?" River asked Megan.

"No, I actually came here hoping that I might meet the Doctor again. I've regretted leaving him for a long time now. I understand now that you're not the original, but I'd still love to travel with you. Is that okay?" Megan asked Donald.

"Yeah, of course it is. I'll enjoy having you here, and I'm sure that everyone else will too once they get to know you," Donald said with a warm smile.

"Thanks. This is going to be great to be traveling with you again," Megan said in excitement.

It was then that members of the Silence suddenly appeared, and Polly gasped in shock at their hideous appearance. River put her hand on her meson blaster as she prepared to kill them all before they could do anything.

"Who are you?" Donald asked them.

"Ask Melody Pond. She knows us," one of the Silence said in an eerie voice.

"Oh, so you're the Silence then. I'm so pleased to meet you. I feel honored. I finally get to have a meeting with the big boys that no one ever gets to remember seeing. What do I owe this honor to then?" Donald asked with a big crazy grin on his face.

"We wish to have Melody Pond back. She will serve us once again," one of the Silence answered him.

"Oh, I don't think so. She doesn't serve anyone these days. Believe me I've tried to give her orders, and she really doesn't like it. She almost put a hole in my head once just because I asked her to bring me my screwdriver," Donald said.

"You said to me and I quote, 'Oi! Screwdriver!' Then you snapped your fingers at me . . . twice! You're lucky I didn't rip that hand off and beat you with it," River said with a grin.

"She's all mine, boys. You can't have her," Donald joked.

"What about me, clone? I believe that my claim to her is long standing. I certainly have much more of a right to her than you do," a woman said from behind the Silence.

River's teeth gritted together, and the smile instantly left her face at the sound of that voice. She immediately pulled out her blaster and held it out in front of her as an unconscious reaction just to the sound of it.

"Hello, Melody. I'm glad to see you again too," Madame Kovarian said with an evil smile.

"Leave her alone," Donald warned her as his smile vanished now too.

"Or you'll do what, clone? You're just a pale pathetic version of the real thing, and even he hasn't ever stopped us completely. You'll do nothing. Melody will belong to me once more, and she'll follow me again with no protest whatsoever," Kovarian said.

"In your dreams," River said coldly.

"More like your nightmares, Melody," Kovarian said coldly.

Then she walked up to River and whispered something into her ear. River began to laugh immediately, and Kovarian looked at her in complete surprise.

"What's the matter? Your little backdoor into my mind not working? Sorry to disappoint you, but someone else already used that password that you left in my brain. It didn't work out for them for too long either because I overcame it. It won't work for anyone anymore now," River said laughing.

Kovarian then quickly whispered something else into River's ear, and she stiffened up all of a sudden and walked over to stand by Kovarian's side with her gun held out in front of her.

"I see that no one used that one though. It always pays to have a backup plan," Kovarian said with a chuckle.

"Oh, great," Donald said under his breath.

"Melody, I want you to kill them all now. Start with the clone first. Kill him now!" Kovarian ordered.

River began to walk forward with her blaster held out in front of her and aimed straight at Donald's head.

"River, don't do this. This isn't what you want. You're a strong, independent woman now. You don't have to take orders from her anymore. You can beat this. River!" Donald said as he tried to get through to her.

River began to shake as she put the gun to his head and tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. Donald knew that she was fighting it with every fiber of her being, but she just wasn't strong enough.

"Kill him now!" Kovarian shouted.

"It's not your fault, River. Remember that," Donald said.

Then River fired the gun. She was so full of pain and grief afterwards at what she had been forced to do that she completely tuned out the screams that followed.

**Next: Will River ever be free of Madame Kovarian's control? Is Donald dead? Find out in the next chapter. **


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two and just after the end of the current storyline begun in Chapter 35 of Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel.**

Donald opened his eyes in surprise when he realized that he wasn't dead. He could still hear screaming though for some reason. He saw River standing a couple of feet away and completely lost in a state of despair after thinking that she had killed him so he disregarded her as a threat for the moment. He then looked on the ground to see Megan lying there with a huge hole in her abdomen! She had gotten in front of him and taken the blast meant for him herself.

"Donald, is she dead?" Polly asked in an emotional voice.

"No, I'm sure she's not. The Professor is good with fixing things. He'll make her as good a new again," Ace said as she forgot to call him Donny in her emotional state.

_If he can't, then I will. _Lydia thought to herself.

_You would use the limitless power of the singularity to repair a worthless android who you've only just met? You waste the opportunity that has been given to you. You could be a goddess! _Omega said inside of Lydia's mind.

_I don't want to be a goddess, and she's important to Donald so that makes her important to me. _Lydia replied back to Omega.

_Are you in love with him? Do you think that doing such things with the power will gain you his favor? He will ask questions if you use it so blatantly, and he will not like the answers. You should keep the existence of the power to yourself. If you wish to have the clone as yours then all you have to do is make him yours with the ring. No one would ever know. _Omega tempted Lydia inside of her mind.

_I'd know. I would never do such a thing to him. Besides, I'm not in love with him anyway. _Lydia replied.

Her only response was the sound of Omega's laughter ringing inside of her brain. He didn't believe it for a minute, and she wasn't so sure if she even believed it herself either.

All of Lydia's debating on whether or not to use the ring was rendered moot when Megan suddenly straight sat up as she returned to life. She looked at the huge hole in her body and sighed.

"I hate it when that happens! It usually takes me days to get myself looking right again," Megan said with a frown on her face.

"You're alright," Polly said with joy.

"I certainly am. Sorry to worry everyone. It takes a while for me to reboot my systems once I receive a major blow like that that takes out so many of them at once. I have to rewire everything around the affected area after all in order to get myself up and running again. It's a major pain," Megan said.

"Thank you, Megan. I'd be dead right now if not for you," Donald said in appreciation.

"You still will be yet, clone. Your celebration is premature. Melody, finish the job that you started! Shoot the clone and not the android this time!" Kovarian ordered.

River sprang back to life and pointed the gun at Donald yet again. She realized then for the first time that he was still alive and that she hadn't shot him. She looked at him with a sense of pure relief in her eyes briefly before the programming kicked in, and she started to obey Kovarian yet again.

As she began to put pressure on the trigger of her gun in order to shoot him once more, she began to shake with anger. She was not going to do this! Kovarian was not going to make her kill the man that she loved again!

She screamed in outrage as she fought back against the programming and pointed the gun at the nearest members of the Silence around her. She began shooting each and every one of them as Kovarian screamed at her to obey her.

"Sorry, you just used up your last chance to ever take me over again. That password's never going to work again either now that I know about it," River said as a smile finally came back to her face at last.

"You know that little phrase that you're all so fond of saying over and over again? Silence will fall? You've got that right!" River said as she began to take down several members of the Silence at once as she fired all around her in a rapid blur of motion.

As the Silence were being cut down all around her, Kovarian began to run for her life. She ran straight into Ace instead who wasn't about to let her get away.

"Oi! Where do you think you're heading off to so quickly, Blackbeard?" Ace asked.

"Blackbeard never wore an eye patch, Ace," Donald said.

"Who cares, Donny? It was funny so I said it," Ace said in an irritated tone.

"Well, I'd think that you'd want to be historically accurate with your jokes but maybe that's just me," Donald said with a grin.

"Do you really think that you can stop me, child? Move aside before I shoot you myself!" Kovarian threatened.

"Just try it, Captain Kidd. I'll bet that you get a nasty surprise if you do," Ace said with a smirk.

"I'm afraid that he didn't wear an eye patch either, Ace," Donald said with an evil grin on his face.

"Shut up, Donny! You're ruining the moment!" Ace shouted.

Kovarian pulled out a small blaster and shot Ace with it just as she said that. Kovarian was horrified to see that it had no effect on the girl whatsoever. Ace had put up a force field of Vortex energy around herself just in time to block the blast.

Kovarian started to turn around to run again, but Ace was already ready for her. Ace shot a burst of Vortex energy at her from her hands that completely enveloped her. Kovarian then completely disappeared in the blink of an eye. Donald looked at Ace in horror as she stood there looking at the spot where Kovarian had been just a second ago with an upset look on her face.

"Ace, what do you do?" Donald asked furiously.

"I didn't do anything. I just meant to stun her. I didn't think it would kill her," Ace said in a shaky voice.

Donald could see how upset she was and realized that something was wrong here. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area where Kovarian had been. He nodded his head as what he had suspected had been confirmed.

"You didn't do anything, Ace. She was teleported out of here by someone. She must have sent a signal to them just as you attacked her," Donald said as she put a hand on Ace's shoulder.

Ace began to breathe a little easier now as she said, "I was afraid for a minute there that I was losing control of my powers."

"I don't know what the big deal was. Even if you had killed her, it wouldn't have been anything to get so upset over. You'd have been doing the universe a favor," River said as she walked over to them after having killed or drove off all of the remaining members of the Silence around them.

"Maybe but I still wouldn't want that on my conscience," Ace said.

"That's why I'm here for. I'll do all of the dirty work for you. I could care less about it myself. It wouldn't bother me at all," River said.

"Somehow I don't believe that," Donald said.

"You can believe what you like, Donald. It's true. I could shoot Kovarian down right now and never think about it again," River said.

"You want the world to believe that you're just a cold heartless psychopath, but you're not. You're not even close. I saw the devastated look on your face when you thought that you had killed me. I know that what you do does affect you whether you want to admit that or not," Donald said.

"That was different, Donald. Of course I was affected when I thought it was you," River said.

"Yes because you don't like to kill no matter what you say," Donald said.

"No, that's not it," River protested.

"Yes, it is. It shows that you have a conscience deep down inside of you that you like to deny exists, but it does all the same. Kovarian couldn't take it out of you completely," Donald said.

"I was affected because I care about you, you idiot!" River shouted.

"Of course you do. I'm your friend. That's not the only reason though like I said," Donald said.

All of the women there, even Megan, groaned as they realized just how clueless Donald really was as to how River felt about him. Donald looked at them all curiously and wondered if he was missing something. They all seemed to know something that he didn't.

Any further pondering about this mystery was quickly put out of Donald's mind as the sound of a TARDIS could be heard materializing nearby. It was the Doctor's TARDIS, and he and Rose got out with another woman that made River's hearts skip a beat in horror as she saw her.

"Joan!" Donald shouted with joy.

Donald ran to Joan Redfern, and the two of them embraced each other as Joan began to cry. She was so happy to see him again. Donald was relieved to see her as herself again and not stuck as Sister Pestilence, her Carrionite self, forever as the Shadow had left her when he had last saw her.

"What happened? How did you get free again? Not that I'm complaining," Donald said with laughter in his voice.

"Jenny did it. She freed me somehow from my dark side. Sister Pestilence has been taken to Shada, some kind of prison I've been told, where she can't hurt anyone ever again. I'm free at last, Donald," Joan said with joy.

River began to feel a sense of dread coming over her now as she could see that the two of them were getting closer and closer to each other. She knew that any moment now that they were about to kiss. If she saw that, she didn't know what she might do. She might have to just shoot Joan on the spot.

She began to smile at that mental image even as she realized that she was only joking about it to make herself feel better. She knew that she'd never actually hurt Joan. She would never do such a thing no matter how much part of her might want to.

Luckily for River, Megan chose that moment to stage a big reunion scene with the Doctor that distracted both Donald and Joan. Megan ran up to the Doctor, and the two of them stared at each other for a long moment before both of them spoke at once.

"You've got a huge chin," Megan said.

"You've got a huge hole in your abdomen," the Doctor said at the same time.

"They're both masters of the obvious, aren't they?" River joked.

"This is one of your old companions I take it?" Rose asked.

"Yes, this is Megan Harris. Megan, this is my wife, Rose," the Doctor said as he introduced the two of them to each other.

"Arkytior?" Megan asked, surprising both Rose and the Doctor.

"How did you know that?" Rose asked in astonishment.

"He told me about you and how much he missed you when he was particularly down once. When he talked about you, he had this light in his eyes and huge smile on his face that I'd never seen there before or anytime afterward until now. I knew that somehow you had to be her in some way," Megan explained.

"I guess it pays to be an android sometimes," Rose said with a look of admiration on her face.

"No, she was observant like that even before she was turned into an android. She was always a quick and clever observer of things that most people, besides me of course, would never even notice," the Doctor explained.

Megan turned and winked at River for half a second. River mouthed 'thank you' to her. Megan had timed her dramatic reunion to interrupt Donald and Joan just before they would have kissed on purpose. River realized now that she had a secret ally that was rooting for her and Donald to get together.

Rose seemed to have noticed this quick exchange between them because she shot River a look that was half disapproval and half mischievous grin. Not that it was any of Tyler's business. She had gotten the one that she wanted. The other one was her business and hers only now.

"It's so good to see you again, Megan. What happened to you by the way? Was it Kovarian? Rose and I tracked her here, but it seems that we got here too late," the Doctor said as he eyed the damage to Megan's body.

"It sort of was her fault, yeah," Megan said as she tried very hard not to look at River.

"I can fix that up right away. No problem," the Doctor said as he motioned for her to go into his TARDIS.

"I'll go with you. We can fix it together. It's the least that I can do since she saved my life after all," Donald said.

"Oh, I should have known that it would be your fault somehow. You're a walking trouble magnet. You're just as bad as Shouty," the Doctor said.

"You take that back!" Donald said insulted.

"Okay. I do take it back. You're even worse than Shouty. Much worse," the Doctor said.

"Am not," Donald said.

"Are too," the Doctor replied.

They both dragged Megan into the Doctor's TARDIS with them as she turned around and mouthed a silent plea for help. Rose and River both exchanged a knowing glance. Both of them knew what children that the two Doctors could be sometimes.

"While they're repairing her, there's something that I need to talk to you about," Rose said to River.

"Regarding?" River prodded.

"Tell me, River, have you ever heard of a woman named Astrid Peth?" Rose asked.

**Next: River and Rose go on a special mission together to find out whatever happened to Astrid Peth.**


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two and just after the end of the current storyline begun in Chapter 35 of Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel.**

"Yes, I've heard of Astrid. The Doctor told me about her once. She died saving him and the people of the Earth from a cyborg named Max Capricorn who wanted to crash a recreation of the Titanic into the Earth. It's certainly another interesting example about just how weird the Doctor's life is most of the time," River said as she answered Rose's question.

"Did he tell you what he did to her afterwards?" Rose asked.

River had no idea where Rose was going with this but she continued to play twenty questions with her as she said, "Yes, he tried to bring her back via the teleporter bracelet that she was wearing when she died, but there wasn't enough energy left on the ship to do it with. He only managed to bring her back halfway. She was neither alive nor dead but stuck somewhere in between. She could never have a real life again so he sent her into space as stardust to travel the universe just like she had always wanted to do all of her life. It must be an incredible experience for her because she was fully aware of what was going on although a little confused according to the Doctor."

Rose looked at her for a moment as if deciding whether to continue talking to her or not and then she said, "I haven't told the Doctor about what I've heard happened to her after that yet. I don't want to keep secrets from him, but I'd rather him not know about this until I'm sure about it."

"What have you heard? I maybe could use some of my contacts to confirm or deny it. I have a lot of connections throughout time and space. Some of them aren't strictly on the up and up of course," River said with a mischievous grin.

"Why am I not surprised? That's why I'm telling you about this. I want you to help me find her," Rose said.

"Why? Why now after all of this time? That was a long time ago," River asked curiously.

Rose sighed with anxiety all over her features as she said, "I've heard that the Silence found her floating through space and used their technology to turn her into a being made out of living plasma."

"So they converted her from stardust into what stars are made out of instead. It sounds like their kind of thinking alright. Take something innocent and harmless and turn it into something lethal and deadly instead," River said as her mind was suddenly filled with bad memories of her own experiences with them.

"According to what I've heard, they thought that they could brainwash Astrid and turn her into a weapon to use against the Doctor. They tried to convince her that what happened to her was the Doctor's fault, but she wouldn't believe them no matter what they tried. She stayed loyal to the Doctor no matter what so they locked her away. She's been held prisoner for a long time now. They can't kill her, and they can't control her so they just put her away forever. I don't want that to happen to her. She's already been imprisoned way too long as it is. I want to try to find her and set her free before I tell the Doctor about it," Rose said.

"That's where I come in then. You think that with what I know about the Silence put together with what I can find out that I'll have the best chance of helping you find her," River guessed.

"Yes. I don't want her to be trapped forever somewhere. She deserves so much better than that especially after what she did to save the Doctor and everyone on Earth. If not for her, the Earth would have become a horrible place. I saw what would have happened in an alternate timeline once, and it wasn't pretty, River. We owe her for helping to stop that," Rose said with a haunted look on her face.

"Your heart is as big as ever, Rose Tyler," River said as she shook her head.

"You mean hearts," Rose said.

"No, I meant what I said. You're as human now as you ever were as Rose Tyler. You act like a human, you think like a human, and you have empathy for others like a human would. I'm a trained observer of people, and I know what I'm talking about. You would easily pass as a human being instead of a Time Lord if people were going by body language and behavior alone," River said.

"Thanks," Rose said happily.

"I didn't mean as a compliment. It was merely an observation," River said.

"I know but I'll take it as one anyway," Rose said grinning.

"You're something else, do you know that?" River said as she smiled at her while shaking her head.

"So can I count on your help then?" Rose asked seriously.

"Yes, any chance that I can get to stick it to the Silence is always good to me. I'm in. I'd like to know where you got this information from though," River said.

"I heard about it from a little birdie," Rose said enigmatically.

"Fine. I think I know how anyway. That little thing that you don't want anyone to know about, but that is pretty obvious to me anyway," River said.

Rose stared at River for a long moment and realized that River knew her secret. She looked very nervous then and began to wonder if that meant that they might figure it out too if River had.

"Don't worry. I don't think that anyone else could figure it out like I did. I've known you for long enough now to know your tells very well, and I know when you're lying to me and when you aren't. I knew that you were lying when you said a certain thing not too long ago. You're a terrible liar after all. I don't think that you have anything to worry about though. I'm fairly certain that no one else has a clue that you're not being straight with them. You're too straight laced to lie after all, or at least that's your reputation anyway. That's one of the things that you have going for you that should help you to keep that particular information a secret from the people that you don't want to know about it," River said as she tried to reassure Rose.

"Good. I need to keep this particular thing a secret as long as possible until I need it. I have an idea that with them around I'm going to need every advantage that I can get," Rose said.

"You're right there. It was also good thinking to send Ace to me for her own protection. They don't like to come around me much for obvious reasons, and you're going to be their greatest target next to the Doctor because they know that you will do everything that you can to stop them from killing him. Ace would definitely be in the line of fire if she stuck around you due to her special abilities too. They want to get rid of or disable every Vortex user around so that there will be no one to help the Doctor when the time comes. They have a new secret weapon, Rose. There's an assassin that they brought in to replace me. I've heard rumors about her for a while now. She's utterly ruthless, and she has great power. They call her the Thorn," River warned Rose.

"I know a little about her but not much. She appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of Jenny's TARDIS recently," Rose said.

"She'll appear like that again whenever and wherever she wants to in the future as well. She's very good. She's not as good as me, but she's very good," River said with a wink at her.

"I'll watch out for her. Thanks for the warning," Rose said.

"Oh, and Rose there is one more thing that I have to tell you about her. From what I've heard, she really wants to kill you and the Doctor very, very badly. Especially you though. I don't know why. I think that they've done their usual brainwashing on her and made you out to be Davros, Magnus Greel, Mavic Chen, and the Black Guardian all wrapped up into one," River said.

"I hadn't heard that particular piece of information yet. Thanks for telling me. I think," Rose said with a grimace.

"You know me. I'm the life of the party. I always know just how to lift everyone's spirits," River said with a huge grin.

"So when do you think that you'll find something out?" Rose asked.

"Oh, it shouldn't be too long. Just give me a minute," River said.

She went into Donald's TARDIS and ignored the two of them fighting with one another while they repaired Megan as she made her way to her room. She pulled out a small communications device that she kept hidden in a special place hollowed into the headboard of her bed there.

She switched on the device and quickly communicated with all of her best informants throughout time and space using it. She was able to quickly piece together enough bits and pieces from all of them to show that what Rose was saying about Astrid was true.

Then her sources came up with the most important bit of information. They gave her a location where she could find Astrid. She became excited and turned to find Rose to tell her about it only to find her standing right next to her. Rose had somehow snuck up on her without her knowing about it!

"You're very good! Not many people could do that. I can only name one other one, and that's the Doctor. How did you do that?" River asked in surprise.

Rose looked at her with a huge grin covering her entire face as she said, "Spoilers!"

"That's my line!" River complained as she pretended to get angry with her.

"What did you find out then? I only just got here, and I didn't hear whatever made your face light up like that," Rose asked.

"I found out a possible location for Astrid. According to my best sources, the Silence are holding Astrid in a hidden prison on the planet Ravalox," River said.

"Ravalox? Why there of all places? That's . . . ," Rose asked in shock.

"Yes it is. It's the Time Lords' dirty little secret, and the one place that they would never come to visit. They also rightly thought of it as the last place that you and the Doctor would ever travel to as well because it would remind both of you of what the Time Lords once did there," River said.

"They're very devious in their thinking, aren't they?" Rose asked.

"Yes, they are. That's how they've stayed off of everyone's radar for so long. That and the whole being forgotten as soon as you look away thing that they do," River said.

"Well how do you want to go there then? By Vortex Manipulator or by TARDIS? I prefer using my own TARDIS myself. I can easily bring it here with my remote control if you want," Rose asked.

River started to answer her when they heard several screams coming from outside the TARDIS. Both of them rushed outside it to discover the Thorn holding a gun to Polly's head.

"Well, it looks like I just hit paydirt. I finally get to meet you once again, Rose Tyler," the Thorn said with a cruel smile.

"Again?" Rose asked confused.

"Oh, yes. We met once before a long time ago, but you don't remember me from what I've been told. I don't know how that could possibly be though. I guess it just shows what kind of a person that you really are though, doesn't it?" the Thorn said in an extremely angry tone.

"Let Polly go. If you do anything to her, I'll make sure that you don't survive the next few minutes," River threatened.

"I'll second that," Ace said as she began to glow with Vortex energy.

"Ace, no!" Rose warned.

"Such concern! She's not even your child, and yet you show concern for her. You seem to show concern for everybody. Well, almost everybody," the Thorn said with that same level of hatred in her voice as before.

"Let her go," Lydia said as she prepared to use the power in her ring to wipe the Thorn out if she had to.

"Why should I be afraid of you, little girl? What are you going to do? Hit me with that ring that you keep pointing at me?" the Thorn joked.

Lydia looked at her in shock. She could see the ring? How? It was supposed to be able to hide itself from the minds of anyone.

_Be wary. This one is not what she seems. There is an aura of great power coming from her._ Omega warned Lydia inside of her mind.

The Doctor and Donald emerged from the TARDIS with a newly repaired Megan and Oswin Oswald, who had started traveling with the Doctor recently.

"Do you really think that you can defeat all of us? Let Polly go and leave here while you still can," the Doctor said.

"I don't need to defeat all of you. I just need to kill my true target and get out of here without being caught," the Thorn said.

"Your true target?" Donald asked.

"Yes. My true target is not Blondie here. Can you guess who it is?" the Thorn said with a huge grin on her face as if she were truly enjoying this.

Everyone reminded silent and then the Thorn said, "Buzz! Time's up! I'll give you a little hint then."

She pulled out a weapon from a pouch at her waist and pointed it at Ace. The Thorn fired it at her, and Ace screamed in pain as energy surrounded her instantly. Ace fell to the floor and began shaking and convulsing with muscle spasms all over her body.

The Thorn then pushed Polly away from her as she began to run away. River reached her in an instant though, and the two of them began to fight one another immediately. They engaged one another in unarmed combat as each used their deadliest forms of martial arts on one another.

They fought each other to a standstill for several minutes as neither one of them gave an advantage to the other one. They were too evenly matched it seemed.

"You're very good. Just as good as I've heard. You're still not going to win though. Do you know why? It's because I'm better!" River said with a wide, crazy grin all over her face.

"We'll see about that, old woman," the Thorn said.

"Old?! You did not just say that! It's on now! You're about to learn why the Silence are still scared to death of me, and their parents use my name to scare their young with when they go to bed at night. My name's River Song, dear, and when it comes to putting down little runny nosed upstarts like you, no one does it better!" River said as the two women faced off against one another in a battle to the death.

**Next: River vs. the Thorn! What did the Thorn do to Ace anyway? Will River live to go to Ravalox to find Astrid? Oh, and to those of you who know what Ravalox is, I give you a special nod. You're a true Who fan! **


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I do not own Doctor Who or Nosferatu, and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story takes place after the Reunion of the Daleks storyline in It's Better With Two and just after Chapter 38 of Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel.**

River and the Thorn stood silently watching each other for what seemed like an eternity as each of them waited for the other to make the first move. Their standoff was broken by Ace who screamed at the Thorn, "What have you done to me?"

Everyone looked at Ace in horror as they saw that she was starting to turn pale, and her eyes had started glowing red. Ace was terrified as she could see the nails on her hands turning into huge claws and large fangs descending out of her mouth.

"What did you do to her?" River asked in outrage.

"I just turned our darling Dorothy into a vampire. Duh! Not the kind that drinks blood though. She's an all new kind of vampire that Madame Kovarian came up with out of her brilliant mind. She will soon have an insatiable thirst for Vortex energy! She will suck every bit of it out of every living thing around her that possesses it by draining it right out of their neck through the puncture mark that she will make with her fangs and probably kill them in the process since all Vortex users seem to be dependent on it for their survival. Making her look like Nosferatu was all my idea by the way. It really wasn't part of the original plan," the Thorn said with an evil gleam in her eyes.

"Turn me back!" Ace screamed at the Thorn.

"I can't. It's permanent I'm afraid. Wait, it gets worse. Soon you'll lose all of your hair too. I'm going to love that!" the Thorn said with a giggle.

"No! There's got to be a cure. There's got to be!" Ace said in a desperate tone as she began to panic.

"I'm sure one of the Vortex users could fix you if you can keep yourself from draining them dry first. Somehow, I don't think that you'll be able to make it. The hunger for Vortex energy is going to hit you soon like a ton of bricks, and you'll do anything for it, Ace. Anything!" the Thorn said cruelly.

"Why? Why did you do this to me? I don't even know you," Ace said.

"It isn't about you, Dorothy. It never was. You're just an innocent bystander in my war to hurt my real enemy. Her!" the Thorn said as she pointed an accusing finger at Rose.

"Why me? I don't know you either," Rose asked.

"Liar! You deny me because you don't want people to know about your secret shame. You don't want them to know just what kind of a person that you really are. Maybe I should tell them," the Thorn said to Rose with pure hatred in her voice.

"I don't care about whatever's going on between you and Rose. I want you to fix this right now. Tell me how to cure her, or I'll beat it out of you," River threatened.

"You can try, old woman! Somehow, I don't think you can though. Why don't you just take your back pills and go to bed? It'll be much easier on you," the Thorn mocked her.

"That's it!" River said as she lost her temper. She was sick of this girl, and she was going to ram her comments back down her throat and take a few of her teeth along with them.

River moved so quickly that the Thorn never even saw her fist coming before it connected with her jaw and sent her crashing to the ground. The Thorn's eyes went wide with surprise as she realized that River had been holding back before. River had been studying her and learning all about her before she unleashed her real attack the Thorn now knew.

The Thorn was just barely able to keep herself from being pummeled mercilessly as River's attacks just kept coming at lightning fast speeds. So far it was all that she could do just to defend herself. She couldn't even begin to make an attack of her own yet.

Donald watched River in disbelief. He knew that she had been trained by the Silence since she was a child to become their ultimate weapon, but he hadn't fully realized just what that meant until this moment. River was like a tornado. The Thorn was helpless before her elemental fury as she continued to perform one attack after another on her. Donald knew from the look of anger on her face that it was because she was angry about what had happened to Ace. Donald knew that despite all of her talk about being a cold, unfeeling psychopath that River really did care about Ace.

The Thorn realized this herself now as River continued to pummel her without mercy. She knew now that she had just made a huge mistake in attacking Ace. She was very glad that she hadn't gone through with her original plan and just killed Ace outright. She had a feeling that if she had done that she would be dead herself right now.

"Tell me how to cure her!" River shouted at the Thorn as her attacks became even faster somehow.

"I don't know. There isn't one as far as I know," the Thorn admitted in fear.

River's attacks became even worse now, and some of them started to get through at last. The Thorn realized now that she was being slowly worn out as she defended herself against River's merciless assault. River was wearing her down bit by bit, and she knew that soon she would have no strength left. She had to get away from this madwoman now before it was too late.

She set off a smoke grenade and got away from River in the confusion. She began to run for her life as she tried to use her powers to get her out of there. She had been so weakened and unnerved by her fight though that she couldn't get them to work. River had severely rattled her and undermined her confidence in herself.

Even in the middle of the swirling smoke all around her that should have hidden her from anyone, River still found her. River's fist came out of nowhere and surprised the Thorn as it connected hard with her jaw. River continued to pummel the Thorn mercilessly until she was a bruised and bloody mess on the ground.

The Thorn was sure that she didn't have much longer to live now. She hadn't taken a mortal wound yet, but it was only a matter of time. River didn't seem like that she was ever going to stop attacking her, and she was so weak that she was no longer able to defend herself.

Then the Thorn was surprised as River's fist was suddenly caught in mid-air by Rose before it could hit her again. Rose then caught River's other fist with her other hand, and the two women stood and stared each other down for a moment.

"Let me go, Tyler. She's probably ruined Ace's life. She may never be normal again," River said furious.

"She's lying there completely at your mercy. If you keep hitting her, you're going to kill her in cold blood. Do you really want to do that? I don't think that you do. You're not that kind of person, Melody. The Silence couldn't make you into a heartless killer before so don't let them do that to you now," Rose said defiantly.

"I'm sorry, Rose. You trusted me to protect her, and I failed. She was attacked right in front of me, and I couldn't stop it," River said in sadness.

"It's not your fault. It all happened too quickly for any of us to stop it. I don't blame you, River," Rose said softly.

Rose then turned and looked at the Thorn as she said to her in a gentle tone, "I don't even blame you. You're just a tool. It's Kovarian who's really to blame here. It was her sick mind that came up with this twisted idea."

The Thorn looked at her in shock and disbelief. Could everything that she thought about her all of her life have been wrong? She had just saved her life after all when she didn't have to.

"You're too merciful and much too forgiving," River said to Rose.

"Am I? You must be too because you obviously feel the same way. I don't believe for a second that you were really going to kill her, River. If you had really wanted to do that, we both know that there was no way that I could have stopped you without my powers. You wanted me to stop you," Rose observed.

"You know you're really hurting my insane, take no prisoners image here," River said as she began to smile at Rose.

"How terrible for you," Rose said with a grin.

Rose then helped the Thorn up onto her feet and said to her, "You need to start rethinking your life. Kovarian doesn't care about you. She's just using you."

"She's trying to do to you what she did to me. Don't let her do it. You have a mind of your own. Use it," River said to the Thorn.

The Thorn looked at them both in confusion for a moment, and then she disappeared in a burst of dark energy. She had much to think about.

Ace looked at both of them in desperation as she said, "Can anybody fix me? Tell me that one of you has a plan."

River could see with horror that Ace's hair was beginning to come out now. She was not going to let this continue. Not even if she had to track down Kovarian and get the answer out of her herself.

"I can't believe this! I've got two Professors, two Time Ladies, an android, a girl with all of the knowledge of the Dalek net at her disposal, and a partridge in a pear tree here; and none of you can keep me from looking like the lead in a horror movie?!" Ace said in anger.

"Someone with the power of the Vortex is going to have to fix you I think," River said as she looked at Rose pointedly.

"You're right, River," Rose said as she walked over to Ace.

"Are you sure about this? I want to be cured but I don't know if . . . ," Ace started to say.

Rose interrupted her by quickly saying, "Yes, I'm sure, Ace. I'm going to have to call one of my children to come here and hope that Kovarian doesn't choose that moment to attack them. I really hope that I won't be leading them into a trap."

Before Rose could use her communicator though, a young woman appeared out of nowhere and said, "There's no need for that. I'm already here. I'll fix her for you without you having to bother any of them."

"Who are you?" River asked the woman in disbelief.

"Jessica, what are you doing here?" Rose asked.

"You know me? How do you already know me?" Jessica Baker asked in surprise.

"Think about it, Jessica. You met me a long time ago back on Gallifrey back when I was still at the Academy," Rose said.

"Yeah but how do you even remember me? That was a long time ago for you," Jessica asked.

"What are the two of you talking about?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"You remember that whole time that I thought that I was seeing the ghost of Sekhmet? That girl that it turned out to be instead was Jessica here. She's Jenny's daughter from the future. Jenny just told me about meeting her recently, and I put two and two together from her description of her and realized that she was the same girl that I met ages ago," Rose explained.

"Oh, yeah! I remember that. It's nice to finally put a name to a face. How are you, Jess?" Donald said as he shook Jessica's hand.

"Just fine, Uncle Donald," Jessica said.

"Uncle Donald? Are we close in the future?" Donald asked in surprise.

"Pretty close. You are a part of my extended family after all. You and Aunt River both are. After all, she is your w- ," Jessica said before she was quickly interrupted by River's hand over her mouth.

"Spoilers!" River said with her finger over her lips.

"What was that about?" Donald asked River.

"Nothing at all, Don. I just didn't want her to blurt out just who her family would be in the future. She might say something that she shouldn't," River said truthfully.

"Yeah, of course. I get you. I might find out if I'm going to have any kids or something. It's bad enough that we keep having all of your future kids pop up, Rose. If mine started appearing too, I'm sure things would really start to get hairy around here. They'd drive everyone crazy just with their non-stop talking alone," Donald joked with a grin.

"You really want to have kids? You've thought about that?" River asked Donald.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to be a Dad again someday. Why?" Donald asked.

"No reason. I just wondered, that's all," River said with what seemed to Donald to be a very upset look on her face. He wondered to himself just what all of that had been about.

Joan Redfern looked on at this in distress. Just what was River's interest in whether Donald had any children or not? Surely it had nothing to do with her.

"Excuse me. Is this new person going to help me or not?" Ace asked in fear, interrupting River, Donald, and Joan's thoughts about what had just been discussed.

"Yeah, I can help. That's what I came here for," Jessica said.

"How did you know to be here though?" Rose demanded.

"I was following the Thorn. I've been following her ever since she left my Mum's ship. I told Mum that I was going home so that she wouldn't worry about me. I knew that the Thorn was about to do this to Ace though, and that I would have to be here to undo it," Jessica explained.

"How did you know that?" Rose asked.

"You told me about it in the future," Jessica said.

"I must have a really good memory in the future," Rose said with a smile.

"Someone needs to do something now. I'm starting to get hungry, and I don't mean for a hamburger," Ace said.

"Okay, now I'm starting to get a little scared here," Jessica admitted.

Ace's fangs extended even further as she started moving toward Jessica. Jessica started to back away from her in fear.

"Ace, no!" Rose shouted.

"I'm sorry, M- Rose. I can't stop myself," Ace said as she briefly looked at Rose with sadness.

"It's a good thing that I'm here then," River said as she suddenly shot Ace with her blaster.

As Ace hit the ground stunned, River yelled, "Do it now! Fix her."

Jessica nodded at her, and she began to glow as Vortex energy swirled around her. She started to pour that energy into Ace, and River breathed out a sigh of relief as Ace slowly changed back to normal.

"Thank you," River said to Jessica.

"No problem, Aunt River," Jessica said happily.

"If there's ever anything that I can do for you, just let me know," River said.

"Well, there is one thing," Jessica said hesitantly.

"Anything, just name it," River said.

"Could I have your mother's autograph? I'm a huge fan of hers," Jessica said.

River looked at her in complete bewilderment for a moment before smiling at her and said, "Sure. I can do that. I'm a huge fan of hers too by the way."

"Well, of course you are. Anybody would be. She's just so awesome," Jessica said with a look of reverence on her face.

"How about that, Rose? Amy's got herself a fan club, and she's the president," the Doctor joked.

"Right now, I'm the president of your fan club, kid. Thanks a lot!" Ace, who had woken up in the middle of this conversation, said in gratitude.

"I'm glad to do it, Aunt Dorothy. You've always been good to me ever since I can remember," Jessica said.

"Spoilers, Jessica! Spoilers!" River warned her as she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. I guess that I should go now before I say something else that I'm not supposed to. I'll see you later about that autograph, Aunt River," Jessica said with a grin as she left in a burst of energy.

"Well, I guess now that everything's fixed here we'll all just leave. I have to drop Oswin off with Marissa after all. Let's go, Rose," the Doctor said.

"I think that I'll stay here for a while and make sure that Ace is okay first, Doctor. I can always use the temporal shift device that Oswin gave me to come back later," Rose said.

The Doctor looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but he said nothing. He knew that Rose was up to something but that she would only tell him what it was in her own time. He just hoped that she knew what she was doing.

The Doctor left then in the TARDIS along with Oswin and Clara Oswald, who had stayed in the ship this whole time since she knew no one there.

"Okay, Rose. What's really going on? Why did you want to stay with us for? I know it's not just to see about Ace as much as you care about her," Donald demanded.

"I have to go rescue someone. Someone who's being held captive by the Silence for a long time now," Rose reluctantly admitted. She didn't want to tell him about Astrid any more than she had her Doctor because she knew how much that it would hurt both of them.

"Who?" Donald asked with concern.

"Astrid, Don. She's talking about your old friend, Astrid Peth," River said.

"What? Astrid's alive and being held captive by the Silence?" Donald asked with a look of guilt on his face.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," River said as she put her arm around him in comfort.

"I'm sorry, Donald. I didn't want you or the Doctor to know because I knew that you would blame yourselves," Rose said.

"I should blame myself, Rose. I just set her loose to roam around the universe by herself. Anyone could come along and get her, and they did. I didn't know about the Silence then, of course, but I should have known better than to do something like that. That poor girl's gone through who knows what because of me. I should have just let her stay dead. That would have been kinder I guess," Donald said guiltily as he sat down on a nearby bench.

"You were trying to save her in the only way that you could just like you tried to do for me," River said as she kissed Donald on the cheek.

Her face flushed red with embarrassment as she realized what she had done, but Donald didn't even seem to have noticed it. He just continued to sit there mired in a sea of guilt.

Joan, however, did see what River had done, and she scowled at her. What did this woman think that she was up to? She thought to herself with anger.

"We need to go after her now and get her out of there," River said as she tried to switch the focus of the conversation in the hopes that Donald didn't suddenly realize what she had done.

Luckily for her, he didn't. Instead, he suddenly jumped to his feet with a look of renewed determination on his face. He had decided that he was going to free Astrid no matter what. He owed her that for doing this to her.

"Allons-y, River! Where is Astrid? I'll take us all there in the TARDIS," Donald said.

"Ravalox," River said.

"Ravalox?" Donald said in disbelief.

"Yes, Don. She's being held there in a secret location that luckily isn't so secret to someone with my connections. I know exactly where she is," River said.

"I haven't been to Ravalox since I ran around in that horrible coat. I was hoping that I'd never have to go there again," Donald said.

"That's the first time that I've ever known you not to want to go somewhere. What is it that's so bad about this place that even you don't want to go there?" Polly asked him curiously.

"It's not necessarily that it's a bad place to be as much as it's the bitter taste that being there leaves in my mouth," Donald said.

"Why is that?" Polly asked.

"It's Earth, Polly. Ravalox is Earth in the future after the High Council of the Time Lords sent a solar flare to destroy all life on the surface of the planet and then moved it to a different place and renamed it in order to cover up what they had done," Megan explained.

"What? Why would they do that?" Polly asked in shock.

"They were totally corrupt that's why. Some of the secrets of the Time Lords had been stolen from the Matrix and taken to Earth, and this was their way of putting a stop to that. They almost destroyed the Earth and wiped out humanity just to protect a few meaningless technological advances," Donald said, shaking his head.

"It makes me glad that I'm more of a human than a Time Lady," Rose said.

"I knew that your people were pretty ruthless from what you told me about them, but that's just despicable!" Ace said.

"Yes, it is," Donald admitted with a shamed look on his face.

"You had nothing to do with that. Why do you look ashamed for?" River asked.

"I should have found out about it and stopped it somehow," Donald said.

"Now we're back to Astrid again, aren't we?" River said knowingly.

"It's the same thing really. Something terrible happened because I wasn't there to stop it, and I should have been," Donald said.

"How could you have known? With those amazing powers of ESP that you've suddenly acquired?" River mocked him.

"I still should have known," Donald said.

River and Rose looked at each other and shook their heads. This was why they had wanted to leave Donald out of this.

"We're going, everyone. Astrid's had to wait long enough for someone to save her. Everyone into the TARDIS," Donald said.

As everyone got inside and Donald prepared to leave the planet Octavus behind him at last, he suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face and said, "I just realized something."

River suddenly froze up. Here it comes! He's going to ask me about that kiss back there. She thought to herself with dread.

Instead of looking at River though, Donald looked at Megan as he asked, "How did you know about Ravalox? I never told you about it."

"I've been traveling around space by myself for years now, Donald. I've picked up all kinds of things traveling from here to there. You'd be surprised at what I know. I know many secrets," Megan said with a wicked smile as she looked in River's direction for just a second.

"Like what?" Donald asked her curiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Megan said teasingly as she gave him a small affectionate hug.

Donald just shook his head and let the subject drop while River gave Megan the evil eye. Megan just smiled at her and winked. River knew that Megan was just trying to play matchmaker here and didn't mean any harm, but she wouldn't stand for it.

She'd get together with Donald in her own time and not be pushed into it by anyone. Of course, she still had to get him to even notice that she was even interested in him at all. That was going to take forever all by itself since Donald wasn't exactly known for his amazing powers of perception when it came to relationships.

As Donald set the coordinates on the console and the ship dematerialized, he said, "Well, we're off. Allons-y!"

"Geronimo!" River said with a grin.

"No, don't do that. Just don't," Donald said with a stern look on his face.

River just laughed at him. She knew that would rattle him. She just loved pushing his buttons like that.

Joan meanwhile noticed this interaction between them as well and continued to wonder just what had happened between River and Donald in her absence. She was determined to find out. She had gone through too much lately, and she wasn't going to lose him too. Donald was hers, and he was staying that way.

River might have something to say about that, however.

**Next: River, Donald, Rose, and the others head off to Ravalox where they finally find Astrid at last. They'll soon discover though that this is not necessarily the same Astrid that the Doctor once knew. Just how has Astrid changed and why? **


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

After the TARDIS landed on Ravalox, River went out first in order to survey the area for any and all possible threats. It was what she had been trained to do all of her life. She would always check out any new areas that she entered for signs of potential hostility and then immediately take steps to neutralize those threats. Donald tended to frown on the whole neutralizing bit so she just came up with plans to take care of any trouble in a non-lethal way instead. She found that she actually preferred it better that way. It was more challenging to stop an enemy without killing them, and she had always loved a challenge.

While River was doing this, Donald sighed. He hated what had been done to her by the Silence. She didn't deserve to have to think of life in terms of life and death all of the time. He kept trying to get her to just enjoy their trips in the TARDIS together, but he couldn't help her to break the habits of a lifetime that easily. At least he had gotten her to stop blowing things up all of the time anyway. She was worse than Ace about that, and that was saying something.

"Thinking about River?" Rose asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I just wish that I could help her to stop thinking of herself as an assassin. She's so much better than that. She could be so much more. She's really a wonderful woman once you get to know her," Donald admitted.

"I know. Why do you think that I gave my fob watch to her to protect? I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't trusted her," Rose said.

"I just wish that I could help her. I don't know how though. I'm not sure if I'll ever totally see the real her that lies underneath all of Kovarian's handiwork, and that's a shame. I've seen glimpses of her real self from time to time that showed what a kind person that she really is by nature, and I'd love to see what she could become if she could cast aside the shackles that have been placed on her mind," Donald said looking wistful as he thought ahead to a bright day in the future when River could finally be free of her past.

"You've really fallen for her hard, haven't you?" Rose asked grinning.

"What? No. It's not like that, Rose. We're just friends. I do care about her but only as a friend. There's nothing going on between us," Donald said.

"You'd like there to be though, wouldn't you?" Rose asked with a giggle.

Donald turned red and didn't speak as Rose laughed at him. He never changed no matter what name he called himself.

"Tell her how you feel about her, Donald. Don't make the same mistake that you made with me and wait for years before you do," Rose advised him.

"That wasn't me. That was the real Doctor. I'm not the same man," Donald said.

"It was you, Donald. You are him in all of the ways that matter even if you aren't the original. That means that you just keep making the same mistakes that he did too. Don't do that anymore. Tell her how you feel," Rose said.

Donald said nothing. He wasn't sure what he could say. He didn't know himself how he felt about her at the moment or how she felt about him.

"You'll find out eventually. It takes you a while, but you always get there just like when you're steering the TARDIS," Rose said as she kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," Donald said.

"For what?" Rose asked.

"For forgiving me for what I did to you and still being here for me anyway when I need you just like you always are," Donald said.

"What happened wasn't your fault, Donald. I never blamed you for it. If I don't blame you then you shouldn't blame yourself either. You need to stop with all of the guilt trips that you keep putting on yourself. You always hold yourself to impossible standards that no one could possibly meet. You need to stop that right now," Rose said.

"I couldn't agree more. You need to listen to her, Donnie," River said as she came back inside of the TARDIS.

"I'll try. What did you find out there?" Donald asked as he changed the subject.

"There's a lot of primitive settlements around, but most of them seem to be peaceful ones for the most part. I don't think that they'll bother us as long as we don't bother them. The real threat is the hidden one if you know what I mean," River said as she looked pointedly at Rose.

River was referring to the Silence. They were all over Ravalox just like they had always been there throughout Earth's history. She had remembered seeing them by leaving marks on her arms.

"So you mean they're here too then?" Donald asked her.

"Yes. They're everywhere. I've found their hidden base too. It's less than a mile from here. It's heavily guarded, but I think that we won't have much of a problem getting in if we just take them by surprise by going in there with the TARDIS. We'll be in and out before they know it," River said.

"No! I'm not taking my TARDIS in there and letting them anywhere near it. We go in by foot and get in that way," Donald said stubbornly.

"I knew you'd say that. It's always the hard way with you, isn't it? That's one of the reasons I fancy you so much. You always challenge me and keep me on my toes. I like to be kept on my toes. Life is boring if everything's too easy you know," River said as she eyed Donald seductively.

Rose almost slapped Donald as he completely ignored River's signals. Anyone with a functioning brain could have seen them. Anyone but Donald that is.

Joan certainly saw what River was doing, and she almost growled at her to leave him alone. She was getting tired of River's games. The only reason that she hadn't said anything to her yet was that Donald didn't seem to be paying any attention to her.

She was going to ask Donald soon how he felt about the matter once he rescued his friend. She was finally going to find out just where she stood with him now one way or another. She had to know before she wasted any more of her time worrying about a relationship that might not even exist anymore.

Donald led the way outside and looked out on Ravalox for the first time in ages. The last time he had been here was with Peri. It looked like nothing had changed for this place since then even though plenty had changed for him in that time.

Ravalox was still a lush and vibrant landscape filled with life just like Earth had been once before long ago. It was like the Earth had been given a second chance to start all over again without all of the pollution and damage that had been done to it in the past by mankind.

If he knew humans though, they'd soon set that straight and have the Earth turned into a huge dumping ground again in no time. Say a few hundred years. A thousand tops. As much as he loved humanity, he wasn't blind to their faults after all.

Before River, Donald, and their group could get started on their journey, they were surprised to hear the sound of a TARDIS materializing nearby. They looked to the right of them, and River immediately recognized the red phone box that was Jenny's TARDIS. She wondered why Jenny was coming here. She hoped that Jenny hadn't run into trouble. Well, to be more accurate, she hoped that Jenny was okay. River loved trouble after all. Trouble was her oldest friend.

River was surprised and then angered as she saw Reinette get out of the TARDIS and start heading towards Donald. Rose and Joan also began to give her hate-filled stares as well each for their own reasons. Joan saw a new rival for Donald's attentions just like River did. Rose though knew that Reinette being here meant that she had ended her relationship with her son, Nicolas. The only reason that she wasn't chewing Reinette out about that was because Nicolas didn't look upset, and that meant that both of them had agreed to the break-up.

River continued to give Reinette a stare of death as the French beauty walked up to Donald with a warm smile on her face. River had to consciously stop herself from punching Reinette in the jaw as she gave Donald a tight hug and laughed with joy at seeing him.

"I know that you're not the Doctor that I met before, and yet I also understand that you are in so many ways. I never got to tell you that I didn't harbor any ill feelings towards you for not coming back. I just wanted a chance to let you know that and maybe to travel with you for a while like you once promised that we would. Is that alright?" Reinette asked.

"Yes, of course. I am sorry for not coming back. When I returned you were already . . . ," Donald trailed off guiltily.

"I know. It's alright. We've gotten a second chance to travel together now, haven't we?" Reinette said happily.

"Yeah, we have. I thought that you wanted to travel with Nicolas though. What happened there?" Donald asked.

River, Rose, and Joan all perked up their ears to listen to her answer.

"We agreed that our relationship was no longer working. I love Louis more. I'm going back to him as soon as I spend a little time with you. I just wanted to give us both a sense of closure to what happened between us long ago. One that neither of us have ever received," Reinette explained.

"Well, I'm glad that we've gotten that cleared up then. I just didn't want you to think that we might start something together. I may look and act like the man that you knew, but I'm not him. I already have someone special in my life too, and I don't want to walk away from that," Donald said.

River and Joan both stared at him now after that last remark. Each of them wondered exactly who he was referring to in that remark.

"I assure you that I come here with no romantic preconceptions of any kind. I am not looking to start any relationship with you but one of friendship," Reinette said.

Yeah right! River thought to herself, and she had to bite her tongue hard to keep from saying that out loud.

"Is having her here okay? She wanted me to drop her off here; but if you don't want me to, I'll just take her back to France," Jenny said to Donald.

"It's fine, Jen. It'll be alright," Donald said.

"Are you sure?" Jenny asked as she could see that Donald was a little uncomfortable with her being there.

"I'm sure. Go on about your business, Jenny," Donald said as he smiled warmly at his favorite niece.

"Alright. I'll see you later then. Good bye," Jenny said.

As Jenny left in her TARDIS, River didn't know whether to be angry at her for leaving Reinette there with them or not. She decided not to blame her. She couldn't be blamed for wanting to get rid of Reinette after all. Anyone would in her opinion unless they had the patience of a saint.

"Do you want to travel with us or to go back to the TARDIS? We're headed into great danger to rescue a friend of mine," Donald asked Reinette.

"I'll go along with you. I'm used to danger now. I've been traveling with Jenny for a while now. She gets into so much trouble for such a peaceful woman," Reinette observed.

"She takes after her father in that respect," River joked.

"You are?" Reinette asked as she saw River for the first time.

"Professor River Song," River said as she looked to Donald to add something further to that.

Donald said nothing though as Reinette replied with, "Oh, a female Professor. I'm glad that the roles for women have improved so much since my time."

River had to admit that Reinette was good. She knew just what to say to keep her head on her shoulders. River didn't want to hurt her as much now. That didn't mean that she didn't still want to knock her unconscious and take her back to Louis personally though.

Joan decided not to introduce herself and was disappointed when Donald didn't either. The only comfort that she had was that at least Donald never introduced River to Reinette either.

"Hello again, my Lady Rose. It's very nice to see you once again," Reinette said to Rose as she curtsied before her.

"There's no need for that. It's good to see you again too," Rose said lying for one of the few times in her life.

River chuckled as she knew that Rose was lying. Unlike her, Rose was terrible at it. She knew that she had Rose at least on her side when it came to getting Reinette out of here. Rose's bursts of anger upon just hearing her name were legendary. It made her like Rose more to know that she had a dark side too and wasn't Miss Perfect like everyone thought that she was.

They all began to travel once again now as Reinette continued to introduce herself to the other members of River and Donald's crew. None of them were too friendly to her except for Polly who didn't understand the other women's behavior at all. Reinette seemed to be very nice to her.

"You're mechanical," Reinette noticed with clear trepidation in her voice upon meeting Megan.

"How did you know that?" Megan asked in surprise.

"Your movements are very close to a human's, but I can still tell. I've had mechanical men chasing after me all of my life, and I have their movements burned into my memory. I still wake up with nightmares of them chasing after me sometimes late at night. I know a mechanical person when I see one," Reinette said with a trace of fear still in her voice even after she knew that Megan was not going to harm her.

"I'm not like them. I'm very peaceful I assure you," Megan said as she tried to calm Reinette's fears.

"I know that, Miss Megan. My friend would not let you travel with him otherwise. I hope that you will excuse me though if I still show a bit of fear in your presence sometimes," Reinette said as she struggled to be civil and polite to Megan. She knew that Megan could not help being as she was after all.

"You never have to fear me," Megan said to reassure her.

"Oi! Megan's the sweetest person you'll ever meet," Ace said in anger.

"I meant no disrespect I assure you. I merely wished to tell her that I have a phobia of mechanical men so that she would understand why I may act oddly around her at times. I do not wish for her to take it personally because I can tell that she seems to be a most kind lady," Reinette assured Ace.

Megan placed a hand on Ace's shoulder as she smiled at her to let her know that she was okay, and Ace backed down. She still glared at Reinette though. Ace liked Megan and didn't like Miss Uppity taking potshots at her like that. River now knew that she could count on Ace too.

By the time they had reached the hidden base of the Silence, Reinette began to wonder if she had made a mistake in coming here as everyone was snubbing her now except for Polly and Megan. Megan was now going out of her way to prove herself to Reinette which just upset Reinette because she had never meant to insult her plus it was aggravating her robophobia.

River could see Reinette start to shake every time that Megan came near her and it made her smile. She hoped that it made her leave soon. She didn't want to be happy that Reinette was being affected that way, but she just couldn't help it. Her inner Kovarian came out every time that she saw Reinette and made her want to snap her like a twig. Her inner Amy though always made her stop herself from doing things like that. She always listened to the Amy part of herself. Well, almost always.

They waited until it was nighttime, and then they all silently slipped into the base through a secret entrance that River showed them. She knew exactly how the Silence designed their hideouts and how to exploit every little nook and cranny of them after all.

They quietly made their way through the least traveled parts of the base using River's memories of them as a guide until they found the area where they kept their prisoners. This was exactly the kind of area that River had spent a lot of her time in off and on growing up while she was being indoctrinated by Madame Kovarian. She knew it all too well.

She went on ahead and took out all of the Silence guarding the area while the others waited. Donald had agreed that they would act as lookouts for her while she freed Astrid since she knew the layout of these places the best. She would be able to get in and out much quicker by herself they both knew. She smiled to herself at how well that he already knew her as she went in by herself to find his friend.

At least she thought that she was by herself. Rose suddenly appeared right behind her. She was moving so quietly that even River almost didn't detect her. River looked at Rose in surprise, and Rose looked back at her defiantly. She could tell that Tyler was coming to help her whether she liked it or not so she let her stay with her without any further fuss. She knew that Tyler had Torchwood training not to mention whatever it was that they had given to Time Lords back in the day so she supposed that she could let her take care of herself without having to worry about her too much.

They finally found a cell that looked as if it were specially designed to contain someone of great power. It was heavily fortified and made to withstand just about any kind of attack from what River could observe with her trained eye. She tried her meson blaster on it anyway, and it didn't even make a dent. She then tried every other weapon that she had, and none of them affected it either. The Silence didn't want anyone getting in or out of this cell.

She then decided to try her weapon of last resort. Super Nitro-9. Super Nitro-9 was a concoction that Ace and Polly had come up with together using their combined knowledge of chemistry. Polly had actually helped Ace increase the potency of her Nitro-9 explosives while River had helped her to improve the accuracy of the detonators so that they would explode when they were supposed to and not seconds before like Ace's old Nitro-9 had a very unnerving tendency to do in the past. River wasn't sure if she trusted this new weapon or not because it seemed to be very unpredictable, but she had no choice.

River placed the canisters of the explosive near the cell entrance and quickly gestured for Rose to run. The two of them made it to a safe distance just in time before a huge explosion rocked the area. River raced to the scene to see that Super Nitro-9 finally had done the job. It worked very, very well it seemed.

Ace heard the explosion from outside of the prison area and instantly knew that it was caused by her explosives. She high fived a grinning Polly and said, "Wicked!" Donald just shook his head at her. He loved Ace like a daughter but never would understand her obsession with huge explosions.

River and Rose could now see through the dust brought up by the explosion a fiery figure moving towards them. It was a being in the shape of a woman who looked like she was made out of fire, but River and Rose both knew that it was plasma instead. This was what the Silence had done to Astrid.

Astrid came toward them slowly at first as if fearful. They could both see her features clearly now. They could still see her original form including her face and blonde hair, but she looked more like a hologram than a human being now.

"Don't get too close to me. I'll hurt you. I'm too hot to stand near for long," Astrid warned them.

Both River and Rose could feel the heat radiating from her already, and they could barely stand it even though they were still several feet away from her. This clearly showed how truly hot it was because as Time Lords River and Rose could both withstand massive heat without being affected. This was very much like being close to the heart of a star however.

"Great. How are we going to get her out of her now? We can't even go near her," River said.

"You've come to rescue me?" Astrid asked with hope in her eyes.

"Yes, we have. We're so sorry that no one ever came after you before. We all thought that you were dead and that what was left of you was aimlessly drifting through the universe," River said.

"It really happened then. I died and then the Doctor brought me back somehow. Only he couldn't put me back together right. There wasn't enough power so he set me free to drift through space forever. He was so sad, and I couldn't regain enough control of myself to tell him that it wasn't his fault. I thought it was all just a dream until now, but it was real," Astrid said as if in a daze.

"He tried to save you, but he couldn't. He's felt so bad about that ever since," Rose said.

"It wasn't his fault. I did this to myself to save him and the people of Earth. Did it work? What happened to Earth?" Astrid asked.

"They all survived. They never knew what you did for them, but the Doctor did and so do I. I went to another world once where the Titanic did hit the Earth, and it was a horrible place afterwards as a result. What you did saved so many lives. You're a hero, Astrid," Rose said with admiration in her voice.

"Why was I punished this way then? I'm a monster. I can't go near anyone without incinerating them," Astrid said with great sadness.

"You're not a monster, and you're not being punished for anything. Some evil people named the Silence did this to you. We've come here to fix what they did if we can or at least to free you and help you to lead as normal a life as possible," River said compassionately to her.

"I'll never be normal again," Astrid said in anger.

"That may not be true. There are powers greater than the Silence in this universe, and I happen to know a few of them," Rose said.

"Do you think that they would help me?" Astrid said with hope back in her voice again.

"I guarantee that they'll try their best," Rose said thinking of her children.

"Follow us out of here, and we'll see what we can do to help you," River said as she started to try to think of a way to get Astrid off of Ravalox. Astrid would melt the Vortex Manipulator, and she would probably kill the TARDIS as well if she stayed inside of it for too long as she was now.

"Do you have any control of your power at all?" River asked Astrid as she followed behind them.

"A little. I can draw all of the energy inside of myself for a while but not for long. Only about ten minutes at the most," Astrid said.

"Then what happens?" River asked.

"It all comes exploding out whether I want it to or not and incinerates everything around me instantly," Astrid said.

"Great," River and Rose said together.

"Well there goes the TARDIS out the window. She'd probably kill us all before we got her back to Gallifrey," Rose said.

"I have to use the Vortex Manipulator then. I'll take her there. We can go to the wild lands where if she explodes she won't hurt anyone but me," River said.

"Wait. I can do it. Amy will kill me if anything happens to you," Rose insisted.

"You don't know how to use a Vortex Manipulator well enough to do this. It has to be me," River said.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Just tell K'anpo where to find us. I'm sure that he's the one who can teach Astrid how to control her powers enough where she can be around other people comfortably," River said.

"Gallifrey? That's where the Doctor came from, isn't it?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, it is. You can get to see it personally now. Do that trick that you know, and I'll take you there," River said.

"Are you sure? I never am sure how long I can hold it all in," Astrid warned her.

"I'm sure," River said.

"Alright then," Astrid said with a nervous sigh as she began to draw in all of the heat and energy that she constantly poured out of her into herself.

Once she had finished holding in her energy, she stood there looking almost human again for the moment. Her face was contorted with pain as she held her power inside of her. River took her hand, and it felt ice cold to the touch. She quickly punched some buttons on the Vortex Manipulator on her arm, and the two of them quickly vanished.

Rose quickly told Donald what they had done using her phone, and then she began to try to reach K'anpo and her children to help as she raced back to Donald. She had no idea how much time that River had left now. She may have to sacrifice her secret to protect her friend. She would do it gladly though without hesitation if it became necessary.

As Rose made it back to Donald, she could see that his face looked ashen. Her hearts sunk in her chest as she already knew the only thing that could have caused that look, but she asked him anyway.

"What is it, Donald?" Rose asked in dread.

"I just got word from Gallifrey, Rose. There was a huge explosion reported in the wild lands. River's dead," Donald said as he broke down into tears and sobbed in Rose's arms.

**Next: Oh, no! Say it's not so! I'll give you one hint. There is a next chapter so that should tell you something. **


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

Did you ever have one of those days when you wished that you had just decided to stay in the bed and have a good long nap? I never had in my life until today, and I've had plenty of reasons to want to stay in a nice comfortable bed and never come back out.

Of course if I did that, I'd miss out on so much. There are so many amazing places to go, interesting people to meet, and exciting adventures to be had.

The most important reason that I wouldn't want to ever quit traveling through time and space though would have to be that thick skulled man that I'm currently traveling with who still seems to have no clue just how much I care about him. He is definitely a clone of the Doctor in every way because he is totally oblivious when it comes to knowing what's going on right in front of him just like the original. In fact, I think that he might actually be thicker.

That should tip all of you off as to who your guest narrator is this time around. That's right! Contrary to what you may have thought in the last chapter, I'm very much alive and well.

River, I can hear you asking, how on Gallifrey did you escape becoming a piece of charcoal? Well, hold on and I'll tell you.

When last our dear narrator, Time Lord Prime, left off, I was in the middle of taking poor Astrid to Gallifrey with my Vortex Manipulator in order to get K'anpo to help her. Then Old Prime leaves off with a horrible ending where Donald has just been told that I've been blown up, and he's sobbing in Tyler's arms. Talk about melodramatic!

He always did go overboard on the emotional scenes though. I'm just glad that he hasn't tried to give me some weepy and maudlin scene where I just fall apart and have myself a good old cry yet, or I'd have to shoot him . . . again.

Now that I have Prime shaking in his boots, I'll tell you what happened when Astrid and I arrived on Gallifrey. I could tell by the look on her face that she was about to explode at any second so I started to punch in some random coordinates on my Manipulator and get myself out of there when I suddenly realized that someone else had beaten me to it.

I found myself suddenly back on Ravalox as if I'd never left. You can imagine my surprise since I hadn't even had time to push a button yet.

"Well, this is new. I wonder who my anonymous benefactor is," I said to myself.

That's still a question that I haven't answered yet. I don't know for sure who rescued me, but I do have my suspicions. It's someone who thinks that I've forgotten about what they can do if I'm right. They're wrong though. I've had to find ways to remember things that I shouldn't so it makes it very hard to erase my memory permanently. I've had to adapt in that way in order to survive with the Silence around.

At least I know for sure now that my possible benefactor is not malevolent, but then again I never really thought that she was. She always just seemed like a very naïve kid to me. I just hope that naivety doesn't get her or any of us killed someday.

It turned out that I had been brought back just a few yards away from Donald and the others who had left the Silence base and were now heading back to the TARDIS. It seemed that Donald actually thought that I was dead. I could tell because he wasn't talking. Usually you couldn't shut him up if you hit him in the head with a sledgehammer. Trust me on that.

Don't look at me like that. Time Lords are incredibly resilient to pain. I found that out through personal experience. Kovarian didn't take failure lightly even from a child.

I decided to avoid one of those long, drawn-out reunion scenes and just get to the point as quickly as possible as I called out to Donald, "What are you so long in the face for?"

The look on Donald's face was priceless as it switched from utter surprise to disbelief and finally to complete joy in just a matter of seconds. I always wondered if the Doctor ever took acting lessons because he always had a talent for overacting and everyone knows what an enormous ham that he can be. That goes double for Donald.

I know that I sound cruel, but it's just the way that I am. I was trained to show no emotions and so I don't. It doesn't mean that I don't care though. I'm not a complete psychopath despite what you may have heard. I'm only partly one.

"River!" Donald said with complete happiness as he started running towards me.

I had to overcome an urge to say something snarky to him because I knew that he was genuinely happy to see me. It seems that he does care a little something about me after all. I'd say that I was sorry, Joan, but I'm not.

Donald wrapped his arms around me and embraced me tightly. It was a little too tightly because I started to have trouble breathing, but I decided not to say anything. I was used to holding my breath for long periods of time after all. That was another little gift that Kovarian gave me.

"Donald, let go! She's starting to turn blue," Rose said.

"Thanks, Tyler. I thought that I was going to have to go into a meditative trance for a minute there to keep from being asphyxiated," I joked.

"Time Lords can't be strangled," Rose pointed out.

"It's called a sense of humor, Tyler. You might look into getting one," I said cattily.

"I have a perfect sense of humor. I just don't think that joke was funny," Rose said with a grin.

I knew that she was just playing around with me and not trying to start a fight. I wasn't trying to start one either. I was just trying to make what was a tense situation a little lighter. I couldn't help but like her despite myself. She made the Doctor happy, and that was all that mattered to me.

Maybe if I keep telling myself that enough, I'll actually start to believe it.

Donald kept looking at me with such a grateful expression that even my cold hearts melted, and I gave him a little hug back. See, I'm really not a total psycho after all. Don't tell anybody though.

"I thought that you had died. They told me that there was a huge explosion in the wild lands," Donald said as he just kept smiling at me.

"You should know me better than that. I'm too tough to die from a little explosion. Besides that, who would keep you in line without me around? Someone's got to keep you from killing yourself," I said with a big grin on my face. I enjoyed teasing him like that.

"River, I . . . ," Donald started to say and then he broke off.

He totally surprised me then but in a very good way as he gave me a deep passionate kiss. Naturally, I started to kiss him back. I didn't stop even when I heard a startled gasp from behind me that I knew had to be Joan. Too bad, Joanie! I've got nothing against you personally. I've already lost one Doctor though, and I'm not going to lose another one.

"Donald," Joan said in a broken voice that made even me feel a little bad for her.

I didn't feel one bit guilty though. As long as Donald truly wanted me then I didn't feel guilty at all. It wasn't like I was taking him from her. He was a big boy and able to make decisions for himself after all.

Donald realized that Joan had seen him and stopped kissing me unfortunately. He looked very guilty as he said, "I'm sorry, Joan. It's just that I realized when I thought that she was dead just how I really felt about her. I'm so sorry."

Joan started to break down in front of us, and I had to admit that I started feeling like a heel in that moment. I knew that I hadn't done anything wrong, but I still felt bad for her. She wasn't really a bad person after all, and I certainly knew what it was like to be in her shoes having gone through it myself before.

Here came Tyler to the rescue though as she did that famous empathy thing that she was always so good at. She took Joan off to the side and comforted her as Donald looked like he wanted to hide under a rock.

"I'm sorry, Donald. Do you want me to talk to her?" I offered.

"No, Rose can help her. She's good at healing people and making them feel better," Donald said.

I can't tell you how I really didn't want to hear about Saint Rose right now. It wasn't as if I didn't feel bad enough about things. This had to happen sooner or later though to one of us. Part of me felt terrible for her while another bigger part of me was so relieved that it wasn't me. I don't think that I could have survived losing him twice.

At that moment, we received a welcome distraction from Gallifrey as we were close enough to the TARDIS by now that we could hear the telephone in it start ringing. Donald seemed to welcome the chance to talk to someone as he ran inside and answered it. It was K'anpo on the other end of course.

"Astrid seems to be okay now even after a big explosion like that. She's been totally unaffected by it. I'm going to try to teach her how to control her powers where she won't be a danger to everyone around her from now on. I'm so sorry about River and so is Astrid. She's devastated by what happened," K'anpo said.

"Tell her that River's fine. She managed to get away somehow," Donald said as he gave me a questioning look that I responded to by shrugging my shoulders.

"Really? I'd heard that she was hard to kill, but this makes my respect for her go up about a couple of hundred notches. Astrid took out fifty acres of the wild lands when she released her power. Luckily, no one was nearby when it happened. Professor Song chose the area to bring her to well. She must be quite the genius," K'anpo said.

I liked the old man already.

I could hear Astrid laughing with joy and relief on the other end of the line after K'anpo told her that I had survived. I could only imagine what she must have been going through after she thought that she had killed me.

As everyone got into the TARDIS and we prepared to leave Ravalox behind before the Silence could come after us, Reinette was already making a move on Donald. Reinette had continued to act like she was just here to tie up all of the loose ends between her and the Doctor, but I wasn't buying it. Joan hadn't even finished crying yet, and she was already moving in on him. She was very smooth I'll give her that. She waited until she thought that I was too far away to hear her, and then she came up to Donald with that phony smile of hers.

**Writer's Note: The opinions of River Song are not necessarily the opinions of this writer.**

Zip it, Prime. I'm right and you know it.

"I'm sorry about what happened between you and Joan back there. I know why you hesitated to tell her that the two of you were through though. I did the same thing with Nicolas. I found out that it would have been best if I had told him how I really felt and let him down right away instead of dragging things out as long as I did. I'm sorry that you had to learn that lesson too just now. Congratulations on your new relationship with Professor Song, however," Reinette said.

"Thank you but I'm not sure if I'd call it a relationship really," Donald said.

I started to become very angry now. What was he going on about?

"What about that kiss though? Surely that was the kiss of a lover," Reinette asked as for once she and I were in agreement about something.

I could see her looking at me with worry as I walked closer to them to hear what he had to say next. She now knew that I was listening to them. She probably thought that I was going to raise a fuss if I didn't like what he had to say.

"I don't know. I was just so glad to see her alive again that I lost control of myself. I shouldn't have done that though. I'm not sure if River feels the same way about me or not," Donald said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I now entered into things.

"I'm sorry for kissing you like that before I knew how you felt. I just got lost in the emotion of the moment," Donald said.

I do feel the same way about you, Donald. Are you blind? Can't you see the truth just by looking at my face whenever I look at you? Oh, and by the way, I kissed you back," I said in anger.

"I thought that you had finally decided to come out into the open with your relationship and that the two of you had been together all along," Reinette said to Donald.

"What? You thought that we were already together?" Donald asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's obvious to me how the two of you feel about each other. The others all seem to know it as well. Why don't you?" Reinette said in confusion.

I wondered at that moment if Reinette was just saying that because I was there, or if she was really trying to help open his eyes. I'm still not completely sure just how much of that innocent act of hers that I believe.

"Is that true?" Donald asked me.

"Yes, you thick brained idiot! I love you!" I finally admitted to him.

Then I leaned forward and kissed him, and he finally got it. I could see the lights come on at last in his eyes as he began to kiss back. I could actually see Reinette smiling at us as she walked away, and I briefly wondered if I had misjudged her.

I doubt it.

I saw Lydia looking at me and Donald with a brief look of anger on her face, but I soon put it to the back of my mind as I was swept up in the moment. Whatever Lydia's problem was could wait. I had finally done the impossible it seemed and made Donald see what everyone else had a long time ago. I had been waiting for this for a long time, and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

**Next: Astrid returns with better control of her powers just in time to find out about the happy news. She can't wait to congratulate Donald and his new girlfriend, Lydia. Wait, what? You heard me right. Next time, River tries to figure out just what's going on as she has a faint idea that something is very, very wrong, but she just can't quite put her finger on it.**


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

Hello, it's River again. I loved narrating my story so much last time that I've returned to narrate it for another chapter. I may decide that I'll just keep narrating it from now on. How else am I going to make sure that Time Lord Prime gets everything right? Well, I suppose that I could just threaten to shoot him to keep him in line, but I prefer to do things myself. I don't like to shoot him too much anyway. I try to limit it to once or twice a week tops. I'm trying to be a much nicer psychopath these days.

I've had my memory erased and altered so many times before by the Silence that I instinctively know now when something like that is going on. I have that feeling right now that my mind has been tampered with in some way, but I don't know how just yet. Everything seems like it should, and yet I know that something is very, very wrong. I just hope that I can find out what it is before it's too late because somehow I know that whatever or whoever is behind these changes is totally evil.

"River, are you alright? You look like something's bothering you?" Donald asked as he saw me looking troubled.

"I feel like someone's tampered with my mind. I just don't know how yet," I told him.

"I'm sure it's nothing. I'd know if something was wrong around here. I'm very good at sensing trouble," Donald said confidently.

"Really? Is that why you find yourself right in the middle of it so often then? Is that a conscious effort on your part? Do you love trouble so much that when you sense it that you jump right into the middle of it?" I asked him with a grin all over my face. I love teasing that man so much.

"Sometimes," Donald admitted with a sly grin on his face.

That was when Lydia came over to us and said, "I'm sure that whatever's going on is nothing that bad. Don't worry about it, River."

"I'm telling you that something isn't right. I've had my mind tampered with so much that I knew when it's going on," I insisted.

"It's fine. You're worrying about nothing," Lydia said in a slightly aggravated voice.

"Lydia's right, Riv. Lydia's always right. Aren't you?" Donald asked Lydia.

Lydia smiled and said, "Well, not always. I have been known to be wrong. On occasion."

"That's my Lydia. Always so modest," Donald said as he gave her a tender kiss.

I wanted to scream and had to look away instantly. It took every ounce of self-control that I possess to keep myself from punching both of them right then and there.

I know that makes me sound horrible, but I can't help it. I keep having thoughts that tell me that Donald doesn't belong with her, and that she's all wrong for him. That's one of the reasons that I know that something is wrong with me. I know that my mind has been altered with, or why else would I feel so violently ill every time that I see them show any type of affection for each other.

Donald's my best friend, and I should be happy for him that he's finally gotten someone as nice as Lydia in his life. Yet I'm not, and I don't know why. That shows that my mind has been tampered with in some way. Why else would I be so angry? I can't tell that to Donald though, or he might take it the wrong way.

Luckily, my thoughts were taken in a different and much more pleasant direction when Astrid finally walked up to us with a huge smile on her face. We had come here to Gallifrey to see how she was doing. She had been taught how to control her powers better by K'anpo so that she could contain the intense heat and power that she constantly generated and keep it to well within lethal levels. Now she could actually be around other people without instantly incinerating them if they got too close.

"Hello, everyone," Astrid said hesitantly.

I could tell that she was still afraid that she might burn us all alive by the careful way in which she approached us. She was constantly watching us all. I think that she was trying to make sure that we weren't catching on fire.

"Hello, Astrid. Are you alright?" Rose Tyler asked.

Tyler had stayed on a little longer to make sure that Astrid was alright after she was finished with K'anpo. Sometimes that woman is so touchy feely that it's sickening. She has this strange overwhelming need to take care of everyone. I think that it has to do with growing up with Lily as a mother. Some of her craziness must have rubbed off on her.

**Catty much, River?**

Stuff it, Prime. I'm the one in charge of this title now, and I'm going to call it the way that I see it. Do you have a problem with that, or should I reacquaint you with my blaster?

**No, Ma'am!**

That's better. Now where was I? Oh, yes. Tyler was being all caring and sharing as she asked Astrid how she felt.

"I'm fine. It feels better to be able to talk to someone without being afraid that I'll kill them," Astrid said with a nervous laugh. I noticed that she still stood a couple of feet away from all of us though.

"I'm so happy for you, Astrid. So where are you going now? You're welcome to come and stay with me and the Doctor if you need a place to go for a while," Tyler offered.

"I don't know if I should travel with anyone or not. What if I lose control again?" Astrid asked nervously.

"You're going to be fine, Astrid. You don't want to stay on boring old Gallifrey forever, do you?" Donald asked her.

"No. I don't really belong here. I don't want to hurt anyone though," Astrid said.

"You're going to be fine from now on I promise. Why don't you come traveling with me? I can show you the universe. I remember that you wanted to go with me before. Now you can finally do it. I can take you anywhere that you want to go," Donald offered.

"Are you sure?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, of course I am," Donald said as he walked over to her and gave her a hug.

Astrid stiffened and watched him carefully to make sure that he was okay for a moment before she returned his hug. Even I felt sorry for her now because it was obvious that the Silence had made her into a neurotic mess who had become afraid of even the most simple of human contact. What they had done to her just made me want to kill Kovarian even more than I already did, and I didn't think that was possible.

"Congratulations on your new relationship by the way. I heard from K'anpo that you and Lydia finally got together. I'm so happy for you," Astrid said.

"Thank you. I have to admit that I had no idea that she felt that way about me so it took me completely by surprise. Now that I know about it though, it just feels so right. It's like we were meant to be together," Donald said.

I had to fight the urge to hurt someone again as those strange feelings of anger suddenly returned once more. I noticed that it wasn't just me this time either. It was Joan Redfern too. I could see her trying to hold back tears, and I knew that she was upset about Donald and Lydia being together too. Why? Obviously someone had tampered with her mind as well but why? Who would want to turn the two of us against the idea of Donald and Lydia being together when Lydia was so good for him? She was just completely perfect for him in every way.

Excuse me. I just threw up a little bit in my mouth. This mind tampering is very, very good. I'll give whoever did it that. I'm actually getting violently ill just thinking good thoughts about Lydia and Donald together, and I don't know why. I like Lydia. I always did from the moment that Donald and I met her. I have no idea why anyone would want to turn me against her, but it wasn't going to work no matter what their reasons for doing it were.

I noticed that even Little Miss Perfect seemed to be against the idea. I had seen Tyler scrunch her face up whenever Donald and Lydia showed any affection for each other. Even she had been affected by whoever it was. I was beginning to wonder just how far this whole thing went.

Obviously it was something that was just affecting our crew though because Astrid and K'anpo seemed unaffected by it. They both seemed very happy for Donald and Lydia when they told them the news about the two of them becoming a couple.

So far it just seemed to be only me, Joan, and Tyler who were affected. I had to make sure that it didn't spread any further than that. It may be that whoever was tampering with our minds wanted us to hurt Donald and Lydia in some way. I was sure that I could overcome something like that, but I didn't know about anyone else. They don't have the same resistance to mental control that I've developed over the years. I had to stop this now before it went too far.

We set course for Earth because Astrid wanted to see it again. She had been there briefly when she had met the Doctor and had wanted to return to take a longer look at it. I wondered if she would even get out of the TARDIS though. In the hope that she actually would, Donald gave her a perception filter so that she would look human again since she still looked like a fiery holographic version of her former self.

As we headed for Earth, I decided to talk to Joan to see if she was having similar thoughts to mine. Mostly I wanted to see if I could determine whether she might become violent or not.

"You seem to be upset about something," I said to her as soon as we were alone together.

"I'm fine. What makes you say that?" Joan said sadly.

"The fact that your eyes are all red and puffy, and I saw you crying earlier," I pointed out.

"I didn't know that he loved her for sure until just recently. I can't help the way that I feel. I do want him to be happy, but I want it to be with me. Why can't it be with me?" Joan said sadly.

"I'm sorry," I found myself saying, and to my shock I meant it.

I actually felt bad for her. I felt as if I should apologize to her for some reason even though it was Lydia who was his girlfriend not me.

"I thought that we were both going to be happy together at last when I came back here, and then I find out that he's fallen in love with her instead. I'm never going to have my life back the way that it was before ever again, am I?" Joan asked with such sadness in her voice that I could even feel my hardened hearts breaking for her.

"I'm sorry, Joan. I truly am. The heart can't always pick who it falls in love with though. I'm sure that neither of them ever meant to hurt you. It just kind of happened," I said. Again I felt this unexplained need to apologize to her that I couldn't explain.

"I want to be happy for them. I really do, but it still hurts every time that I look at them together. Maybe I should just leave the ship," Joan said.

"That's ridiculous. Where would you go? You really don't know anyone in this time except for the Doctor, Donald, and Martha Jones. Why don't you just stay here? I'm sure that everything will be fine eventually. I know Donald, and he won't want you to go especially not over this. He wants you here, and I bet that Lydia does too. Just don't do anything hasty, okay? Think it over for a while," I told her.

"I guess you're right. I should take some time and think it over a while before I do anything. I just feel like I've lost something special that I'll never get back again. I already lost the Doctor once, and now I've lost him again. I'm not sure if I can take it again. It broke my heart before, and I never really recovered from it," Joan said.

I must have been hanging around Tyler too long or maybe it was the brainwashing, but I inexplicably found myself comforting her as she suddenly broke down crying right in front of me. I still felt very guilty as if I had made her feel this way myself somehow, but I had no idea why that was.

"I'm sorry, Joan. I'm sure that it'll get better though. You have to believe that. I know that it took me a long time too, but I eventually recovered when the Doctor left me for Tyler. It just wasn't meant to be because his hearts still belonged to her. I still believe that the right person is still out there waiting for me somewhere though, and I've never given up on that idea. I think that you'll find the right person for you too someday," I said.

I completely surprised myself by saying all of that. I had never admitted any of that to anyone before not even to Donald.

"Thank you," Joan said gratefully.

I turned to see Tyler watching us both. She had heard what I said, and I could see great sadness in her eyes. I knew that she felt terrible for me, and I couldn't stand that.

I'm River Song. No one ever should ever feel sorry for me. I'm tough enough that I can survive anything. I proved that when I survived losing the Doctor. I was almost sure that would kill me outright but it didn't.

Do you know why? It's because I'm indestructible, and I don't have any hearts to break in the first place. The entire universe knows that.

Maybe someday my hearts will know it too. They're the only ones that still have to be convinced.

I marched away from Tyler as I snarled, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm sorry," I heard her say behind me, but I kept on going without so much as a backwards glance at her.

I was now convinced that Joan hadn't been affected by the brainwashing at all and that it was just her own broken heart that was making her act that way. I still had no idea why Tyler didn't approve, but I didn't much care at the moment. I had no desire to talk to her at the moment.

She didn't seem to be getting that message though even though I had made it loud and clear. She managed to find me again very quickly and immediately blocked my way. She pulled me into her room, and I went along willingly. I wanted to have it out with her for that pitying look that she kept giving to me, and one of the sound proofed rooms of this TARDIS was just the place to do it in. That way Donald would never know about it.

"River, I'm going home soon now that I know that Astrid is better, but before I leave I have to tell you that none of this is right. Lydia is not supposed to be with Donald. You are. I think that you know that too even though you won't admit it," Tyler said surprising me.

"What are you talking about? I'm not in love with Donald. I'm only his friend," I said.

Even as I said that, part of me knew that it was a lie. Yet somehow I couldn't stop saying it and believing it. What was going on here?

"River, you have to fight this. You and everyone else here is under her control. She's made you all accept a fake relationship between her and Donald using the power of her ring. Do you remember the ring? The one with Omega in it?" Tyler asked.

A torrent of memories became unlocked with her words, and I suddenly remembered again. Rose had brought my memories back completely. I had known that something was wrong, but I had no idea what before. Now I remembered completely again.

I remembered Omega possessing Lydia's father, and Donald and I defeating him. Then Lydia tried to erase our memories of the whole thing, but I had still remembered all of it though regardless of that until recently when she had tampered with my memories again. I had pretended not to remember that she still had the ring because I trusted her, and she hadn't done anything against us. I was certain that it had been her who had saved my life when Astrid exploded so I was sure that she wasn't really evil. I still didn't think even after all of this that she was truly a bad person.

That still wasn't going to stop me from kicking her butt though.

"How did you know all of that? Why weren't you affected?" I asked Rose.

"That's because of my secret, remember?" Rose said with a smile.

"Of course but aren't you giving that away by telling me all of this?" I asked.

"Not in here. They never enter my private quarters with me because they're too afraid to. None of them wants to be in a locked room alone with me even if they do think that I have no powers. Even Kovarian can't convince them to do that. I'm going to leave once we finish talking using my temporal shift device, but I had to make sure that you remembered what was really going on here before then. I know that you would have remembered yourself eventually, but it might be too late by then. Omega's influence on her is growing. He's the one who made her do this I'm sure of that. He's slowly breaking her will over time, River, so don't be too angry with her," Rose said.

"You're much too forgiving, Rose. Still thank you for telling me. I owe you one," I said gratefully.

"No, I owed you one. I'm sorry for putting you through all of that when I came back," Rose said.

"It wasn't your fault. He still loved you and wanted to be with you once you returned. I only wanted him to be happy and I still do. I forgive you. I just hope that Joan someday forgives me," I said.

"I think that she will especially after that talk that the two of you just had," Rose said.

"You sneaky woman! You waited to tell me on purpose until Joan and I were finished talking. You wanted me to know that she was just like I had been once. You're smarter than you look, Rose Tyler," I said with a big grin.

"You're not the first to say that, Miss Song. People are always underestimating me because I'm blonde," Rose joked.

The two of us hugged then, and I finally put a part of my past behind me at last. Now it was time to move ahead into the future. As I left Rose's room and she finally headed back to reunite with the Doctor, I headed up to the Console Room. I was going to reclaim my life now. Neither Omega nor Lydia was going to keep me from it any longer.

I burst into the Console Room to find Donald and Lydia kissing once more. That was it! I completely lost my temper this time as I resisted my homicidal urges no more. I was so going to enjoy this.

I pulled out my meson blaster and aimed it at Lydia as I said, "Get off of him now, Lydia, and remove that ring before I shoot it off of you. My blaster can instantly cauterize any wound that it makes you know. I can easily shoot off your ring finger with no noticeable loss of blood."

"River, what are you doing?" Donald asked as he looked at me as though I'd gone insane.

"She's using her ring to control your mind, Donald. You're not in love with her, and you never were. That's Omega's doing. He wants to use her to control you and through you the TARDIS," I said.

"Omega?" Donald said as he started to remember again. I could tell that he was regaining all of his memories now too.

"I'm sorry, Donald. I'm so sorry," Lydia said crying.

Then she froze as Omega's voice now came through her mouth as he said, "It no longer matters, this girl's will is mine now. This little ruse gave me all of the time that I needed to completely dominate her mind as I slowly broke her will. I completely control her now and through her the ring's power is now mine to use once again. I will have this TARDIS and through it I will return to Gallifrey to spread my rule to all of the Time Lords. I will be the new ruler of Gallifrey and from there I will eventually rule the universe with the power of the ring. Even you cannot stop me now."

"Care to try me?" I said with an evil grin as I aimed my blaster at Lydia's ring finger.

Omega pulled out a staser from one of Lydia's pockets and pointed it right at Donald's head as he said, 'I could say the same to you, Miss Song. Lay down your weapon and surrender."

I froze now unsure of what to do as a new voice suddenly spoke out of nowhere surprising both of us at once.

"I'm afraid that I can't let her do that. There's no way that we can allow you to leave the Vortex, Omega, even if we have to lose Donald to keep you here," a familiar voice said behind me.

"Speak for yourself," I said to the owner of the voice.

"Who are you?" Omega said.

"Think about it, Omega. Look very closely at me and remember. We actually did know each other a very long time ago. We were even friends once," the voice said.

Omega squinted at the woman behind me and spat out, "Sekhmet!"

"These days they call me Lily," Lily said with a crazy smile.

Prime is telling me to wrap this chapter up so this is as good a place to leave off as any I suppose. I don't know who invited her here though. I was doing just fine all by myself.

_Oh, yes. You were doing just wonderfully, dear. _

Shut up, Lily!

**Next: Lily guest stars as River confronts Omega with the fate of the universe at stake. Astrid may have something to say about someone threatening her new friends as well, and she's not a lady that you want to have mad at you. Just ask Max Capricorn.**


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

When last we met in this story, Time Lord Prime had left me in yet another bad situation. Omega had used his ring to take control of Lydia in order to force Donald to take him to Gallifrey so that he could use its power to take over the Time Lords and through them the universe. Omega now had a staser to Donald's heard while I had my gun pointed at Lydia's ring finger. That wasn't good enough of course so Prime has to go and make an already bad situation worse and add Crazy Lily into the mix. Who knows what she'll do?

Which I guess is the point.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Lily.

"Rose told me that Omega was here and that he had been hidden inside of his old ring. I knew that I had to come here to stop him using a Vortex Manipulator so that I could catch him by surprise. I was the one who found the ring and buried it in my old temple after all so that no one else could ever use it again. At least I thought that no one could use it ever again. It seems that you proved me wrong, Omega. You always were the clever one though," Lily said.

"Your old temple?" I asked her in confusion.

"Yes. Who do you think Hathor Demeter was? I ruled over the planet Undecimus for a while when I was bored with Gallifrey once. I've been around this universe quite a bit you know in a billion years. I took Omega's ring with me when I left Gallifrey and buried it there in my old temple to make sure that it would never be used. I certainly wasn't going to leave it in the hands of the High Council so that the Celestial Intervention Agency would have a shot at getting it," Lily explained.

"How many of your tombs have I dug up over the years?" I wondered out loud to myself.

"There's no telling. I've had to pretend to be dead a lot over the millennia. I've lost track myself of how many names I've had," Lily said.

"Enough prattle. I don't care about your past, Sekhmet. All that matters to me is the here and now. I finally have the power of the ring under my complete control at last; and as soon as I leave the Vortex, I will use it to take over everything," Omega said.

"Why aren't you using it now then? You could force me to take you to Gallifrey, couldn't you? So why aren't you?" Donald asked.

"Your will is stronger than his. It always was and so is River's. Now that you know that he's here and has the ring in his control it's a more even contest. In fact, I'd even say that you have the advantage," Lily explained.

"No one has a stronger will than mine. No one!" Omega protested.

"That sounds like a classic case of protesting too much. You've just convinced me that Lily's right which doesn't happen often believe me," I joked.

"Nice one. Have you been talking to good old Liz lately? That sounds like one of her zingers. It's just as bad too," Lily said with a groan.

"Silence! I will not be denied. Bring me to Gallifrey now, or this poor man's version of the Doctor dies now!" Omega threatened.

"You do that, and I'll melt that ring into sludge and you with it," I threatened.

"You'd probably kill Lydia if you did that. I know the type that the Doctor usually associates with. They would never kill an innocent," Omega challenged.

"I'm not the usual type of person that the Doctor hangs out with, Omega. I would do it in a heartbeat without hesitation. I was trained to do that very thing by the Silence after all. To kill without thinking and with no hesitation," I said.

"You're bluffing," Omega said.

"Am I?" I challenged him back.

"Do it. Save yourselves," Lydia said in her own voice as she momentarily gained control from Omega.

"Silence, girl!" Omega shouted as he resumed control once more.

I had to give Lydia credit. She was willing to die in order to fix her mistakes. I knew that she wasn't a bad person. She was just very, very naïve to ever think that she could work with Omega without being betrayed or outwitted by him.

"I'd do it, Omega. You know that I would. I'm a soldier. I'd sacrifice everyone here in order to save the universe from you. I'd gladly blow up this TARDIS in order to prevent that," Lily said.

"How do you propose to do that when I have a gun? One move, and I'll kill him," Omega threatened.

"Computer, Special Code Sekhmet Caledonia Hathor Persephone Lily Arkytior Freya 1963 1989," Lily said.

"Self-Destruct initiated. This Capsule will explode in less than ten minutes," the holographic computer interface said as it appeared in my form.

What can I say? I really have an effect on Donald apparently. He just can't get me out of his head. Even when it's been tampered with by singularity using rings.

"What did you do?" Omega asked furious.

"It's a hidden code that I installed in all of the latest TARDISes. It helps when you know every back door to them that ever was or ever could be. It can only be countermanded by me giving the right code in my own voice. It's a good thing I haven't regenerated lately," Lily said with an evil grin on her face.

"You're good!" I said to Lily appreciatively.

"I know. I do try," Lily said.

"Undo the code! Now!" Omega ordered.

"No," Lily said with a tone of total indifference in her voice.

"Then you will die as well," Omega said.

"I doubt it. I'm pretty tough after all," Lily said in that same uncaring voice.

"I'm beginning to find a new appreciation for you," I said.

"You're forgetting about all of the cans of Super Nitro-9 that I have on board. That'll make the explosion even worse," Ace said with a huge smile on her face.

Omega looked perplexed as he shouted, "Silence! You will be silent!"

Really! Could you beat them over the head any more with that theme, Prime?

"I've had enough of this. You're not going to hurt anyone," Astrid said in a furious voice.

"You cannot stop me, human," Omega said arrogantly.

Omega didn't know that Astrid was using a perception filter to make herself appear human. That little piece of information could come in handy. My mind brainstormed as I came up with a cunning plan.

"I bet that staser doesn't even work. I'm sure that it doesn't as a matter of fact," I said.

"You're wrong, Professor Song. You'll soon find out how wrong if you keep testing my patience," Omega said.

"It doesn't work, or you would have already used it. Wouldn't he, Astrid?" I said.

Astrid finally got the message as she said, "You're right, River. That gun won't even affect me. I'm not even afraid of it anymore," Astrid said.

She began to slowly walk forward as Omega shouted, "Stay still. I'll shoot."

"Go ahead. What have I got to lose? We're all going to be blown up anyway in less than ten minutes," Astrid said as she continued to walk forward.

"Less than seven actually," Lily said.

"It's going to be big," Ace commented with glee.

"You'll go with it you know," Polly reminded her.

"It'll be worth it. I always wanted to die in a big explosion. It'll be so wicked!" Ace said with a mad gleam in her eyes.

You really have to give that girl credit for playing the part of the mad bomber to the hilt.

Astrid just kept walking closer and closer to Omega until he finally snapped and shot her. To his surprise, the staser had no effect on her. It didn't surprise me though since she was made out of pure plasma now, and it had zero effect on a being like that.

I took advantage of Omega's brief moment of surprise as I shot Lydia. Lydia crumpled to the floor of the TARDIS, and I quickly ripped the ring off of her finger.

_I can give you such power, Professor Song. Put the ring on your finger, and together we can take over the universe. _Omega said in my mind.

_Forget it, Omega. I'm not a naïve young girl that you can manipulate._ I replied.

_You cannot do this to me. I am Omega. I will not be defeated this way!_ Omega shouted.

"River, hand me the ring," Astrid said.

I did as she asked, and the ring began to melt in her hand as she poured the heat of a star's core into her palm. I heard Omega scream in fury as he realized that he had been defeated once and for all.

_No! This is not the end! I will not die! I will –_ Omega's voice said in my mind until it suddenly stopped abruptly in mid-sentence.

Hopefully, this time Omega really was gone for good. The ring was certainly done for because it was now nothing but a pile of steam coming out of Astrid's hand, and soon it wouldn't even be that. Astrid was currently containing the singularity from the ring inside of herself since she was basically a walking star now. She planned on releasing it somewhere into deep space soon.

"Thanks, Astrid," I said.

"No problem. I'm just glad that my new condition actually came in handy for once," Astrid said.

"I think that it's going to come in handy a lot," I said.

"Maybe so but I'd rather be human again," Astrid said sadly.

"Couldn't you use the singularity to change yourself back?" Ace asked.

"Then who would contain it and keep it from destroying us all?" Astrid said.

"I think that I could. I could try anyway if you wanted to use it to change yourself back," Ace offered.

"Are you sure about that, Ace?" I asked.

"Sure. Besides, I always did think that I would love to go out with a boom so if it happens it happens," Ace said with a shrug.

"Here I thought I was the psychopath of the group," I said grinning.

"You are just kidding right, Ace?" Polly asked.

Ace just smiled and never said a word. It's just like I said earlier, she really takes the mad bomber thing and runs with it.

"Ace?" Polly asked in concern.

"Don't worry about it," I told her while Ace continued to remain silent.

Astrid began to change in front of our eyes, and I could see her becoming human again while Ace drew the power of the singularity into herself. Astrid finally looked entirely human once more in a matter of moments, and Ace's face was now scrunched up in pain as she struggled to contain the power that was inside of her.

"Ace, are you going to be alright?" Donald asked in concern.

"I don't know. I wish Rose was still here. I'm not sure that I can do this after all," Ace said with worry.

"It's a good thing that I decided not to get rid of my plasma form then," Astrid said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her in surprise. She looked human to me now.

"I decided to change myself so that I can change back and forth between my human form and my plasma form at will. Now, I can be both. I decided that my abilities could come in useful sometime after all so I didn't get rid of them," Astrid said happily.

She then changed back to her plasma form and took the singularity back from Ace. Ace looked at her in relief for a moment, and then she fell to the ground unconscious.

"Ace!" Polly shouted in concern.

Donald scanned Ace with his sonic screwdriver and finally said with a relieved smile, "She'll be alright. She passed out because trying to contain that much power took a lot out of her."

Polly sighed in relief as she moved Ace into the Captain's Chair and off of the floor with the help of Megan. Polly had appointed herself as Ace's mother at the moment it seemed even if she did look only a few years younger than she did.

"Just drop me off somewhere in deep space for a moment, Donald, and I'll let the singularity go where it won't hurt anyone when it becomes a black hole," Astrid said.

"I'll find a good spot as soon as I can," Donald assured her.

"No hurry. I can contain it for a while longer. I'm getting better at this," Astrid said.

She was happy to have the powers now that she could control them better and was actually able to become human again. I was glad for her. I liked Astrid and didn't want her to be trapped in her plasma form forever.

Now everything was wrapped up except for two loose ends. The TARDIS countdown was still going in the background, and it was down to less than a minute now. Lydia meanwhile was still passed out cold on the floor. I didn't kill her of course. I was so tempted to but I couldn't. She didn't do what she did on purpose after all.

I still was very tempted to disintegrate her just for kissing Donald so much though. That was practically a capital offense in my eyes.

"Are you going to do something about that countdown?" I asked Lily as the computer reached thirty seconds.

"No," Lily said with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Donald asked in alarm.

"I mean that there's nothing that I can do. The countdown will continue until it's finished. Nothing and no one can stop it now," Lily said in a nonchalant manner.

"I knew it. She wants to kill me. She always did," Donald said in disbelief.

"Self-destruct will commence in 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 - 1. This TARDIS has now self-destructed. Sucker!" the holographic interface said. The last word had been said in Lily's voice.

"What the?!" Donald asked in complete confusion.

"There is no TARDIS self-destruct. There never was. It was a nice little program that I could use to trick someone with if I had to. That's all," Lily admitted with a chuckle.

"I don't know whether to laugh or scream," Donald said with a horrified look on his face.

I started to burst out laughing at the same time as Lily did. I found that Lily wasn't so bad really once you got to know her. I liked her. She was almost as crazy as me, and I didn't think that was possible.

"I'm about to reconsider having you as my girlfriend," Donald said as he pouted.

"No, you're not," I said happily.

"You're right. I'm not," Donald said as he began to smile again and kissed me.

That was when Lydia woke up and began to cry uncontrollably. We could all tell that she felt miserable about what had happened. It still didn't let her completely off the hook with us though.

"I'm sorry, Donald. He took advantage of my feelings for you. I know that you don't feel the same way about me, and it was driving me insane. He fed off of that to make me do something that I'll always regret. I'm sorry," Lydia said as she looked at Donald with pure anguish on her face.

"You poor thing! Why don't you forgive her, Donald? She's just a young, naïve girl. An innocent to the ways of the world," Reinette said as she suddenly came forward to embrace Lydia.

Donald, the poor sap, actually fell for it, and he nodded his head in agreement with her. His hearts always were too big for his own good after all. It wasn't like I didn't want to forgive her eventually. I just wanted to make her suffer a while first. Reinette messed up my perfectly good revenge plans.

I told you I didn't trust her.

"I forgive you, Lydia. If you ever do something like that again though, I'll take you back home no matter what anyone says. I can't keep someone that I can't trust on the TARDIS," Donald said.

"I promise that I'll never do it again. You'll never have any more trouble out of me, Donald," Lydia said.

"Why don't you go lie down for a while? You look exhausted after what you've just gone through," Reinette said.

I really don't like her. Did I mention that?

"Thank you," Lydia said to both Reinette and Donald as she went to find her bedroom.

"That poor kid! I have to forgive her. I mean she's not the first woman to fall prey to my seductive charms and go a little crazy because of it. I didn't even realize that I was doing it this time though. That's just how good I am I suppose. I've really got to learn to tone it down to avoid this kind of thing in the future. Yep! Still got it!" Donald said smugly.

"You certainly do," I joked with him.

"You really are the Doctor, aren't you? I didn't think that the universe could support two egos that huge, but I guess I was wrong. It hasn't imploded after all. Yet!" Lily said.

"You never change, do you? You're still just as warm and friendly as ever," Donald said with a sigh.

Donald let Astrid release the singularity not too long after that so that he would have an excuse to get away from Lily for a while. I meanwhile had discovered a newfound friendship with her.

"Can I drop you off anywhere, Lily? Earth? Gallifrey? The heart of the Sun?" Donald offered.

"No. I think that I'll stay here and talk to my new friend, River. I'm giving her some tips on how to handle you," Lily said happily.

"Oh, wonderful! That's just wonderful!" Donald said as he slowly walked out of the Console Room.

"Don't worry, Donnie. I swear I won't use Lily's mental torture tips against you. I already have plenty of those kinds of techniques of my own after all," I said with a cruel grin.

"I think I was better off with Lydia after all," I heard Donald say to himself as he wandered into the TARDIS corridors.

"I'd make him pay for that," Lily said.

"Oh, I will," I said as I continued to smile.

Later that night, Donald found that all of his suits had been vaporized. The poor fellow! All that he had left to wear now was a copy of the Ninth Doctor's leather outfit that I had just happened to bring along. I had always wanted to see him in it after all. Now through some unfortunate and unforeseen circumstance I finally would.

I'm so bad sometimes I even scare myself.

**Next: The end of my final Silence storyline and my version of Trenzalore can be found here next time. This is it for Kovarian as she meets her final fate here. What happens here next time will change River's life forever. **


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

**This story continues from It's Better With Two Chapter 13.**

Trenzalore Part 5

Hang on, people, this is going to be a tough one. No, that sounds too much like something my mother would say. How about I just say instead that this is the end of this long story, and Prime left it up to me to finish it all up for him? Isn't that considerate? Leave me here having to tie up all of his loose ends!

Oh, well. I'm always up for a challenge so here goes. I suppose I should pick up where the last part left off with the Black Guardian revealing himself to Marina and Cydonia after he just shot Davros right in front of his sister. How's that for summing up the ending of the last part all nice and neatly in one sentence?

I wasn't actually there for that of course, but I did have Marina and Clara tell me plenty about it afterwards. In fact, neither one of them would shut up about it. They just kept talking about it on and on and on. I mean I like a good story as much as the next person, but there comes a time when you have to stop talking about it and actually move on!

The Black Guardian revealed himself in his usual over the top fashion, and then whined about how terrible his life is. Please! At least he never had to put up with Madame Kovarian. Now let's hear him whine some more if you're into that sort of thing.

"How are you back? My mother told me that you were being forced to work for Ishtar," Marina said.

"I'M STILL WORKING FOR THAT INSUFFERABLE WOMAN EVEN NOW. UNKNOWN TO HER, HOWEVER, I AM MENTALLY CONTROLLING THIS DALEK FROM AFAR AND HAVE BEEN FOR SOME TIME. HIS ADVANCED MENTAL POWERS ACTUALLY MADE IT MUCH EASIER FOR ME TO CONTACT HIM AND TAKE CONTROL OF HIM IRONICALLY ENOUGH. NOW HE IS MY PUPPET TO DO WITH AS I WISH, AND WHAT I WISH TO DO IS TO USE HIM TO CHANGE HISTORY SO THAT I CAN BE FREED. THAT'S WHAT I AM GOING TO DO RIGHT NOW AS A MATTER OF FACT. SOON I'LL HAVE NEVER MET EITHER OF YOU, AND YOU'LL BE NOTHING BUT A BAD MEMORY TO ME THAT I'LL QUICKLY FORGET," the Black Guardian said as he quickly vanished.

I wish I could forget his whining. He really does get on your nerves, doesn't he?

"Do you know where he's going?" Clara asked Marina.

"Yes, I can feel him. He's gone on to when my mother was human. Oh, no! He's going to the Battle of Canary Wharf! He's going to make sure that she falls into the Void! I can feel it. He's trying to get rid of her forever instead of having her exiled into Pete's World. That way she would never become the White Guardian in order to leave Pete's World because she would never have been there in the first place," Marina said in fear.

"You have to get there and stop him as quickly as possible or that's the end of everything. Without Rose, the Black Guardian would have made the universe descend into chaos a long time ago," Clara said in alarm.

Marina began to glow with energy as she prepared to leave, but Mira stopped her by screaming, "Wait! What about Davros? Is he dead?"

"Yes, he is. I'm sorry. The Black Guardian wanted him out of the way while he did his dirty work. I have to stop him before he wipes out my whole family next," Marina said impatiently.

Mira began to cry, and Marina instantly felt sorry for her. She knew that Davros was a monster, but Mira wasn't. She was a kind, gentle soul who missed her brother. She was tempted to bring him back to life just to take that shattered look off of Mira's face.

Don't do it, Marina! You'll regret it.

Marina finally let out a sigh and brought Davros back to life. She knew that she would regret it, but she felt that she had to do it. Her own sister would have never forgiven her if she hadn't. She actually cared about the guy for some reason that she couldn't understand for the life of her.

You just knew that she was going to do it, didn't you? She's too much like Rose for her own good. I would have just left him dead and said good riddance myself. Mira would have been better off without him and so would the rest of the universe. That's not how the Doctor, Rose, and their children think though. It's too bad that I'm not the Bad Wolf. I'd take down people like Davros left and right.

Maybe it's a good thing that I'm not the Bad Wolf after all. I'd probably like it too much.

"You saved my life?" Davros asked in disbelief as Mira hugged him with joy.

"Yeah. Cassie would kill me if I hadn't. Plus I like your sister. Don't think that this makes us friends though. I still can't stand you," Marina said.

"Same here," Clara added.

"I do not wish to be in your debt. I will wipe the slate clean by giving up my quest to change the Doctor's history, and I will help you to stop that madman. I want to get my revenge on him anyway for tricking me like he did," Davros said.

"You just don't want Cassie to be erased from history," Marina said.

That girl is a master of stating the obvious, isn't she?

Davros said nothing in response to her statement except, "What are we waiting for? Let's go now. He could be changing history forever at this very moment."

"What about me?" Mira asked.

"You have to stay here. You belong in this time not ours," Marina said.

"No. I'm going," Mira said stubbornly.

"Sorry. I'm afraid not," Marina said as she and Davros started to vanish thanks to her powers.

"Guess again," Mira said as she grabbed onto Davros' chair and left with him.

The Clara from Skaro sighed. Marina was not going to like this.

Marina, Davros, and Mira appeared right in the middle of the Battle of Canary Wharf right at the most pivotal moment. Rose and the Tenth Doctor were holding onto the levers for their lives as countless Daleks were sucked into the Void behind them.

Mira held onto Davros' chair for dear life as the Void threatened to pull her in too. Davros was both shocked and undeniably happy that she decided to come with him. Davros was being kept by being pulled in by Marina who groaned when she saw Mira there too.

It seems not even Davros is all bad. He does seem to genuinely care about his sister and Cassie after all. I have no idea what is going on between Davros and Cassie myself. I mean what does she see in him anyway?

The Psionic Dalek now appeared, and the Black Guardian kept him from being sucked in as he slowly made his way towards Rose. He quickly started trying to use his mind control powers to make Rose let go of the lever. Rose, however, had a strong will even as a human so that was not going to happen.

The Black Guardian decided to use the direct approach now instead as he started to aim the Dalek's gun stalk at the lever itself. He was going to destroy it and let Rose get sucked in.

He probably would have too if Marina hadn't suddenly appeared behind him and put her hand right through the Dalek casing. She pulled the Dalek right out of the casing and threw it into the Void with all of her strength. Before the Black Guardian could save him, he was gone.

The Black Guardian still wasn't giving up yet though. He still had control of the shell, and he was going to use it. He began to aim the gun stalk at the lever again by long distance telekinesis now.

"That's it. I've had enough of all of this, and I've had enough of you!" Marina said as she disintegrated the Dalek casing with one touch while simultaneously using the Black Guardian's connection to it to send a huge blast of energy directly into his mind through it.

The Black Guardian had been saving some planet somewhere for Ishtar while attempting to free himself. She was taken completely by surprise when he suddenly screamed out and fell over. He had been knocked out cold by Marina's attack. Ishtar quickly looked into his mind and found out what he had been up to now.

She shook her head at him as she said, "You never give up, do you? That's it! No more powers for you, Bill. They're gone as of right now. I'm demoting you to the hired muscle. From now on, you're just going to stand around and look tough and intimidating while everyone else does all the real work. That seems to be all that I can trust you to do. It also seems to be all that you can do right. Good job, Marina."

Marina finally let out a huge sigh of relief as she had finally saved both of her parents at last. At least, she hoped she had. Davros seemed to have given up so far. Now all she had to do was get herself, Davros, and Clara back to their own time. She supposed that she would just take Mira with them while she was at it.

Marina snapped her fingers and suddenly she, Davros, and Mira found themselves back in the Doctor's tomb standing next to the glowing timeline. She was planning on depositing Davros and Mira here for her parents to deal with while she went back in for Clara.

Here's where I finally come in. I know that you're all applauding out there. Believe me I've been waiting impatiently too.

As soon as Marina, Davros, and Mira appeared, everyone stopped trying to fade out; and both the Doctor and Donald sat up looking completely healthy again. I breathed out a sigh of relief. I was glad that both of them were okay now.

"So is it all over with then?" I asked.

"Not quite," the other Marina said from behind me.

"Oh, no," the Marina with Davros said.

"Oh, yes. You have to go back inside. Mum will find me back on a Greek island two thousand years ago. That's where you have to go to completely fix things," the older Marina said to her younger self.

"You're starting to get a life as complicated as mine, Marina. You'd better watch out before I sue you for copyright infringement," I joked.

I always love trying to lighten the situation with a good joke. I think I've been hanging around Donald too long. Not that I'm complaining.

"What about Clara? I promised her I'd save her," the younger Marina said.

"I'll save her," the Doctor said.

"Whoa! Whoa! You're not going in there. It's too dangerous to go into your own timeline," both Rose and I said at the same time.

We looked at each other in surprise and laughed. Sometimes it was scary how when it came to the Doctor that we were pretty much of the same mindset. It was like having to watch out for a child that was always trying to get into trouble.

I suddenly became depressed as I thought of children. Both Donald and my mother had brought the subject up recently, and I'd been thinking of it ever since. I did want to have a child, but I was never going to bring her or him into the world to be a target of Kovarian. I couldn't do that to them. I would never do that. As long as Kovarian existed, I could never have a normal life.

Besides, normal's overrated anyway. I'm happy with my life the way that it is. I've got Donald now after all so what else do I need? I'm just fine the way that I am. I'm not missing a thing.

You don't believe it either, do you? I have to keep telling myself that though. It's the only thing that keeps me going some days.

"Someone has to go in and save Clara," the younger Marina insisted.

"I will," the older Marina volunteered.

"No. I'll do it. You've done enough already. Come with me, Marina. I'll take you to where I first met this version of you," Rose said to the younger Marina.

"You'll need this then," the older Marina said as she finally took off the ring that she had been wearing for so long and gave it to Rose to protect her from being splintered like Clara was.

"Wait, Rose. Wait!" the Doctor said as Rose and the younger Marina went inside the timeline together.

He quickly followed them and I sighed. That man just never listens.

Davros meanwhile kept looking around like he was going to try to escape at any minute, and I was determined not to let him get away this time. I had no idea who Mira was at the time so I decided that she must be someone who worked for him.

"You and your little minion here aren't going anywhere this time, Davros. This is it for you. Your Daleks have almost lost the battle with Oswin's Daleks outside so I wouldn't count on them helping you get away either," I said.

"Is Jacqueline alright?" Davros finally said with concern.

I almost smiled despite myself as I said, "She's fine. She's just outside."

As if on cue, Cassie came running in. She ran up to Davros and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Like I said, I don't get it.

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

"You're not angry at me? How can you not be angry at me after what I did and tried to do?" Davros asked in disbelief.

I was wondering that one myself. Cassie made Rose look tame in comparison so far in the forgiveness department.

"I am angry at you. I'm furious. I still feel betrayed, and I still hate you," Cassie said.

"Then why did you ask me if I was alright?" Davros asked in complete confusion.

"I love you, that's why. I don't know why I do but I do. I have since the day I met you," Cassie finally admitted.

"I love you too. You're the only person that I've cared about since my sister died," Davros said.

Those comments certainly made mouths drop. I know mine was on the floor. I really, really don't get it.

"You're in love with him? How? Why?" Donald asked as his eyes bugged out.

"I just am. He's not completely evil, Uncle Donald. There is good in him. It's just buried deep inside. I know because I've seen it. I think that someone could save him if they tried hard enough," Cassie said.

"I agree with you completely, and I'm going to be the one to do that," Mira said as she finally spoke.

"Who are you?" Cassie asked.

I could swear that she sounded almost jealous. Can you imagine a beautiful girl like Cassie being that crazy over Davros? He must have something that I certainly can't see.

"I'm Mira, his sister," Mira said.

"He saved you. He finally saved you," Cassie said in tears as she rushed forward and embraced her.

"Just who are you? Are you his girlfriend?" Mira asked.

"No. I do love him, but I'm not his girlfriend," Cassie said.

"You love someone else, don't you?" Davros said sadly.

Cassie hesitated for a moment and then she said, "Yes, I do. I do love you, but I love him more. I have ever since I can remember. I'm so sorry. I don't want to break your heart, but I have to be honest with you."

I didn't think Davros had a heart. I certainly wouldn't care if it was broken after what he had just put Donald and the Doctor through. I felt like blasting him myself for what he did to them.

"It's alright. I understand," Davros said, but he didn't sound like that he understood at all.

Am I a bad person because I actually enjoyed his heart breaking in that moment? I don't care if I am. He deserves it in my opinion.

"I'm sorry," Cassie said softly as she kissed his cheek again.

"Can we still be friends? I'm sorry for the way that I treated you," Davros said.

"Of course we can. I'm still angry though. Don't think that I'm not," Cassie said in a much harsher tone than the one she had been using up until now.

"I like her. She doesn't let you get away with anything," Mira said to Davros.

"Good," was all that Davros said.

"I don't get it," Donald said as he shook his head.

"Join the club," I said.

Suddenly the Doctor and Rose reappeared with Clara. The Doctor was holding Clara in his arms, and she looked like she was almost dead. She had actually survived being stuck inside of the Doctor's timeline and splintered into hundreds maybe thousands of lives. She must be a lot tougher than I ever gave her credit for.

Marina ran forward as the Doctor laid Clara on the floor of the dying TARDIS. She hugged Clara tightly and asked in an extremely worried voice, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I will be. You've been worrying about me, huh?" Clara said as she managed a weak smile.

"I've been worrying about you almost two years. I didn't know if you would be alright or not, and I couldn't talk to anyone about it," Marina said as she burst into tears.

As Clara wrapped her arms around her and tried to reassure her that she was alright, Rose and the Doctor looked at them both in shock. I knew from the expressions on their faces that they had no idea that the two of them had become that close. It stood to reason though. If someone goes through that much with someone, then of course a strong bond is going to form between those two people.

It was at that moment that Oswin came inside and looked at Clara with a huge smile on her face. Obviously, she was glad that Clara was okay too since she was Clara more or less.

"The war between our Daleks is over with, Davros. The Daleks that weren't destroyed surrendered to me just now. It's over," Oswin said.

"What are you going to do with him then? Are you going to execute him?" I asked.

"No!" Cassie and Mira both said.

"I won't unless I have to," Oswin reassured them.

"Aw!" I said in disappointment and received glares from Cassie and Mira.

We were all interrupted by the sounds of fighting yet again. We all looked at Oswin in surprise since she had just said that it was over. She ran to the door and looked outside in disbelief.

"The Silence are here. They're trying to get in here, and my Daleks are fighting with them," Oswin said.

Kovarian smiled at me from where she had silently sat by herself nearby until now. She knew. She knew that they would be coming soon. I suddenly realized that she wasn't giving up even though everything was over. She was still determined to kill the Doctor because as long as he was alive someone could always do the same thing that Davros did all over again.

I knew then that the only way to stop Kovarian was to kill her. I would gladly do it, but I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to as long as the Doctor and Rose were around. I knew that they were not the types to condone killing Kovarian even if it was for the greater good.

I pulled out my meson blaster and pointed it at Kovarian as I said, "Tell them to surrender."

She laughed at me as she answered, "I don't think so. I haven't come this far and fought this long to give up now. All of this just proves my point, Melody. As long as the Doctor lives, someone else can also come back here and do the exact same thing all over again. Silence will still fall even if it has been avoided this time. It's inevitable unless I change things, and I will change them."

"No. You won't," I said as I walked closer to her with my gun outstretched.

"River, don't!" the Doctor said.

"I won't let her kill you and Rose. It's not going to happen," I said.

"River, this isn't the way," Rose said.

"Yes, it is. It's the only way that we'll be safe. It's the only way that we'll be free," I said.

"It won't matter if you do, Melody. They'll still keep coming. As long as they know that he's alive, they'll always keep coming," Kovarian said with a cruel laugh.

I knew that she was right. Even killing her wouldn't stop them. I had to convince them that the threat to time and space was over with once and for all.

"Let's get out of here. We need to confront them. This needs to end here and now," I said as I contacted my friends on my Vortex Manipulator while we all left the inside of the future TARDIS.

Not too long after that, Ace appeared in a burst of golden energy along with Astrid, Polly, Joan, Megan, Lydia, and Reinette. I had them waiting on call just in case that we needed them. They all started to do battle with the Silence alongside Oswin's Daleks now except for Ace who I called over to me.

Dorothy started to laugh now, and I realized too late just what I had done. There were two different versions of Ace here now, a younger and older one. This could be very, very bad. Two versions of the same person are never supposed to touch after all, or it could destroy the universe.

"Oi! Who's the old lady who looks like me?" Ace asked me.

"Never mind her. I asked you all to come here to help me against the Silence. I specifically needed you though, Ace. I need to do something that will convince the Silence that no one can ever again break into the Doctor's tomb.

"Don't ask me to do that, River. It doesn't feel right," Ace said as she guessed at what I wanted.

"I have to. You have to blow up what's left of the future TARDIS and make it collapse over the Doctor's timeline so that no one can ever get back to it," I said.

"Did I just hear you right? You're going to blow up my tomb?!" The Doctor said in a tone of outrage.

"Yes! Do you have any better ideas?" I asked as I stared him down.

He shifted moods on a dime as he suddenly smiled and said, "Not really, no. Brilliant idea!"

"You really want me to do this, Professor?" Ace asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. It's okay, Ace. Do it," the Doctor said softly.

He then turned to look back at the future TARDIS and said in an emotional voice, "Good bye, old girl!"

Ace began to glow with energy, and then she gestured at the future TARDIS. It exploded and the debris collapsed in on itself as it buried the Doctor's timeline forever. I hated to have her do it too, but I saw no other choice.

The Silence looked at the debris and realized what we had just done. They all held up their hands in surrender now, and I realized that it was over at last. It was finally over.

I was wrong. It wasn't quite over. Not just yet.

"No! This doesn't mean anything. We still have to kill the Doctor, Rose Tyler, River Song, and Davros to make sure that no one can open the tomb ever again. Everyone who knows the true names of the Doctor and Rose Tyler must die or silence will still fall," Kovarian yelled at the Silence.

"It's over. No one could get inside there now," one of the Silence said.

"No! We must make sure. Kill them!" Kovarian ordered.

"We will fight no more. We have already lost too many in the invasion of Earth. We are tired of death. The threat of the silence has ended so let the struggle end here as well," another of the Silence said.

"I will not give up. I will make sure that it is finished as it should be. I will finish it!" Kovarian shouted.

She grabbed a blaster from the belt of one of the Silence near her and pointed it at the Doctor. I then pointed my blaster at her as I said, "Do it and you'll die next."

"Members of the Silence, I want peace and so do my Daleks. Stop Kovarian, and I will let you all go. No one will ever bother you again. I give you my word on that," Oswin said.

"No! You're not going to stop me now. You'll be the first to die today it seems," Kovarian said as she fired at Oswin.

"NO!" Dalek Epsilon said as he used his temporal shift to appear in front of Oswin and took the blast meant for her.

Epsilon's casing exploded, and I could see that the Dalek inside was badly wounded. I fired on Kovarian now, but she ducked out of the way. She raced away from me as I continued to fire at her. She tried to fire on the Doctor now, but before she could do so she was surprised by Astrid.

Astrid punched Kovarian in the jaw before she even saw her coming; and as Kovarian hit the ground, Astrid transformed into her plasma form. Astrid held a fiery hand near Kovarian's face now, and Kovarian began to shake in terror.

"Astrid, don't do this! You're a sweet and kind person. This isn't you. Don't go down this road. Don't let her change who you are," the Doctor said.

"She made me into a monster. If not for Omega's ring, I'd never have been human again," Astrid said.

"She really will make you into a monster if you do this. Don't let her, Astrid," the Doctor pleaded.

"Why not? She deserves to get her revenge. She almost ruined her life," I spoke up.

"You don't understand, River. Once you go down this road, you can't come back. Believe me I know," the Doctor said.

"You don't understand, Doctor. People like Kovarian can only be dealt with in one way. Otherwise, she'll just keep coming back again and again. Do you want more of her victims on your conscience?" I said.

"I can take her to Shada, and that will stop her," the Doctor said.

"Yes and that worked so well for the Monk," I pointed out.

"The Silence freed him because of who they are. We've given everyone on Earth and Gallifrey the ability to see them now so that won't happen again," the Doctor said.

"She'll find some other way to escape. She always does," I countered.

"I'm not going to let this happen," the Doctor said.

"You couldn't stop me, Doctor. I could do it if I really wanted to," Astrid said.

"No, I couldn't. I really don't want you to do this though. I want you to do the right thing, Astrid. Don't put her death on your conscience. She's not worth it," the Doctor said.

"Oh, yes she is. I'll do it if you won't," I said.

"No, you won't," Donald said.

"What?" I asked him as I spun around to face him in anger.

"I won't let you kill anymore, River. That's over with if you're going to travel with me," Donald said.

"This is news to me," I said in a very angry voice.

"You know that I'm the same as him. How is this surprising?" Donald asked.

"I just thought since you killed all of the Daleks in the Medusa Cascade that you would be on my side," I said.

"I did that because I had to in order to save lives. I didn't want to do it, and I didn't enjoy it," Donald defended himself.

"I'm going to stop her if no one else will," I said firmly.

"Please don't do this, River. You're better than this," Donald said in a desperate voice.

I hesitated and so did Astrid. Neither of us wanted to disappoint our respective Doctors.

Meanwhile, Oswin was crying as Dalek Epsilon died. He had sacrificed himself to save her life. I couldn't see crying over a Dalek myself, but even I had to admit that Oswin's Daleks were different from the others. They actually seemed to love her as hard as that was to believe.

"I won't let you die. I won't," Oswin said.

To my amazement, her hands started to glow; and Epsilon returned to life with his injuries instantly healed. Oswin collapsed then, and one of her Daleks caught her before she hit the ground.

"Is she going to be alright?" Rose asked.

"YES. LIFE SIGNS ARE WEAK, BUT NOT TOO WEAK. SHE WILL RECOVER. SHE GAVE UP SOME OF HER LIFE FORCE TO SAVE EPSILON. THE EMPRESS SAVED HIM," one of Oswin's Daleks responded.

Davros' captured Daleks were silent for a moment, and then started to chant, "ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS! ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS OF THE DALEKS!"

"DO YOU WISH TO JOIN US?" Dalek Omega asked.

"YES. WE WISH TO SERVE UNDER THE EMPRESS NOW AS WELL," one of the captured Daleks said.

"Traitors," Davros muttered under his breath.

"Hush," Mira said firmly, and he stayed silent after that.

I liked Mira more and more. Anyone who could get Davros to shut up was okay in my book.

"YOU SAVED ME," Epsilon said in surprise.

"I told you before, Eppy. I'm not letting you go anywhere," Oswin said in a weak voice.

I couldn't believe what was going on. Oswin's sacrifice to save one of their own species had convinced the other Daleks to join her and betray Davros. Not that I could blame them. He had always treated them like cannon fodder after all.

We were so caught up in watching this display that we momentarily took our attention off of Kovarian. That's always a bad mistake.

It turned out though that this would be Kovarian's end not ours. As all of us looked away, Kovarian made her move. She aimed her gun at the Doctor while he was looking away from her. One of the Silence, however, saw her and started to electrocute her!

She screamed in pain as the Silence continued to attack her until she exploded into atoms. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. Kovarian was gone. She was actually dead this time. Forever.

"Why did you save me?" the Doctor asked in disbelief.

"I didn't do it to save you. I did it to avenge our people because so many of us died in her mad invasion of the Earth. There are only a few hundred thousand left of us, and we are in great danger now that everyone can remember us. She has all but made the Silence extinct. We decided that we would follow her no more. We want peace, Doctor. We want Oswin to live up to her offer of it. We will fight no more," the Silent who had killed Kovarian said.

"I will live up to it. You can all go. No one will bother you from my people as long as you don't attack us again," Oswin said.

"Do you agree to this as well?" the Silent asked the Doctor and me.

We both nodded, and the Silence seemed to be almost happy and content now with our answers. I certainly didn't want any more trouble from them. I wanted that whole part of my life to be over with now. Over with and done.

The Silence then left in peace just as they said that they would. All that was left now was to deal with Davros.

"What do we do with him?" I asked.

"I'll take care of him. Don't worry," Oswin said.

"I think that we should put him in Shada," the Doctor suggested.

"Could I go with him wherever he goes?" Mira asked in worry.

"No. Don't do that to her. She didn't do anything wrong," Cassie spoke up.

"Davros is coming with me. I'll decide what to do with him. You can come if you want," Oswin said to Mira.

"Please show mercy," Mira begged.

"Let them do what they will. It doesn't matter what they do to me as long as you live," Davros said.

"I won't execute him. I'm not sure what I'll do, but I won't kill him. I promise," Oswin said.

"Thank you. I'll come with you then," Mira said.

Cassie, Mira, and Davros went with Oswin and her Daleks as they all disappeared using their temporal shifts. I was glad that they were all gone. I didn't trust any Daleks, not even the so called good ones.

Now it was just all of us, and everyone except for my group were leaving as well now that everything was over with at last. The Doctor and Rose were happy as they left with Clara, Marina, Donna, and Dorothy. They finally had their daughter back.

The others all left now as well, and it was just me, Donald, and our crew all alone now on the planet. Ace still kept looking at me strangely, and I finally asked her what was wrong.

"Was that me? The me from the future?" Ace asked.

"Yes. She's working with Donna now and UNIT," I explained.

"Ace! I always wanted to work with UNIT. I must get stuck up in my old age though. She never even said hello," Ace said.

"She was probably afraid to come too near you for fear of blowing up the universe. That could happen you know," Donald said.

"Yeah but the explosion would be so brill that it would almost be worth it," Ace said with a huge grin on her face.

"I really hope that you're just joking, Ace," Donald said.

I listened to this silly banter with complete joy in my heart. I was free! At last I could live a normal life without having to look over my shoulder all of the time. Kovarian was dead. She could never bother me again.

I could finally start living, and I was going to start doing it right now. I was going to take my mother's advice.

"Donald?" I asked.

"Yes?" Donald asked.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" I asked.

Donald smiled the widest smile that I've ever seen him give as he said, "How about both!"

"Sounds good to me," I said.

I'm sure that my smile was big enough to blot out the Sun now. I was finally going to marry Donald and have children at last.

I was going to have a normal life or at least as much of one as I wanted anyway. I was never going to be what you would call a normal mum after all. I was certainly gone to be the most loving mother though.

I smiled to myself as I thought of another perk to my new life. Take that, Reinette! It's time to go back to Louis.

"What are you smiling so much about?" Donald asked.

"Everything but mostly I'm smiling about you," I said happier than I'd ever been in my life.

Then we kissed, and Ace turned away in disgust as we kept going without stopping for several minutes. I heard her mumbling something about old people making out, but I no longer cared.

I was free at last! From now on, my life was going to be my own; and I could do whatever I wanted to with it. It was an amazing feeling. I hoped that this feeling never went away.

So this is what true happiness felt like.

**This is the final end of my Silence story. I do have a sort of epilogue in Tales of Gallifrey coming soon that focuses on Cydonia, but the real story is over with. Thank you for reading! If you're curious about what happens to Davros and Mira, be sure to check out the next chapter of Oswin Oswald, Time's Guardian where that will be addressed. **

**Next: Next time we're back to what passes for normal in River's world as Donald and River come across another of the Doctor's old friends. Only Donald doesn't recognize this one. She certainly recognizes him though or at least who she thinks that he is. Next time it's the return of Lady Christina and her flying double decker bus.**


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

I was about to have several changes come to my life soon, and the first of them would begin now as Rose came to get Ace back. I knew that this was going to happen sooner or later because she had only sent Ace to me for protection. She knew that I would keep her safe from the Silence.

Now that the threat of the Silence was over with, she had no reason to leave her here anymore. I have to admit that I was more than a little upset to see her go. I really liked Ace, and I would miss her and her crazy behavior. She was just like me in so many ways.

I knew that Rose would want her back though because Rose loved her like a daughter. That was no secret to anyone. What was a secret, at least to Rose, was how Ace felt about her. That wouldn't be a secret for long though.

Rose appeared in a burst of golden energy as she showed off just like she always does and made a grand entrance in the middle of Donald's TARDIS while it traveled through the Vortex. I know that she doesn't have to do that for a fact because Jenny can use her powers without the light show when she really wants to. If Jenny can do it, then her mother certainly can. Rose just likes to be all dramatic and showy though. She's so much like the Doctor sometimes that it isn't funny.

"M- Rose!" Ace said in excitement as she rushed over to Rose and gave her a hug.

Why what eventually came out about Ace's feelings for her wasn't obvious to Rose is beyond me. That's another way in which she's like the Doctor though. Sometimes she's just as oblivious as he is.

"Hey! I guess you know why I'm here, huh?" Rose asked as she hugged Ace back.

"Yeah, and I'm so happy to go back home," Ace said as she didn't let Rose go.

Rose stroked Ace's hair and kissed her forehead as she said, "We're glad to have you back, sweetie. We both missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Mum," Ace said without thinking about it.

Rose's mouth dropped open in surprise while Ace's eyes went wide with horror. She began to look terrified as I quickly came over to her to help her.

"It's okay, Ace," I said.

"I didn't mean it. It just slipped out. Just ignore it!" Ace said terrified.

"It's alright, Ace," I said as I tried to calm her down.

Rose just stared at Ace in shock and said nothing. Some help she was.

"I'm sorry," Ace said in tears as Rose continued to say nothing.

The poor kid was terrified that Rose was going to reject her I think. She didn't really understand Rose the way that I do. I may throw off on her sometimes, but she really does have the biggest heart that I've ever seen. She had plenty of love inside of it for Ace, but Dorothy didn't know that for sure at the time. She was afraid that Rose was going to reject her just like her real mother had.

Rose finally snapped out of her trance as she said, "It's okay."

"I'm sorry. I take it back," Ace said.

"No, you don't. You meant it and that's okay," Rose said as she hugged her to her tightly.

"It is?" Ace asked.

"Yes. It's okay, Ace. I'm not mad. I was just surprised. I didn't know that you felt that way about me. I've felt that way about you for a long time now, but I was afraid to tell you," Rose said.

"Really? I've been afraid to tell you. I thought you might freak out," Ace said.

"No, of course not. I'm happy to hear you call me that," Rose said as she kissed her forehead again.

Well, admittedly she kind of did freak out, but she got over it very quickly to her credit.

"What about the Professor? How do you think he feels?" Ace asked.

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it. He's always thought of you as a daughter, Ace. He felt that way about you long before I came back," Rose said.

"It's okay to call you Mum then?" Ace asked hesitantly.

"Of course it is. I already think of you as a daughter anyway so why not make it official?" Rose said happily.

I've never seen Ace so happy in all of the time that I've known her, and I was happy for her. It couldn't have happened to a nicer person. I would have adopted Ace myself if she had asked me, but I knew that it was Rose who she thought of as a mother not me.

There's no accounting for taste sometimes, is there?

All kidding aside, I really was very happy for her. I would miss her, but I was glad that she was finally getting the family that she never really had at last. If anyone deserved it, Ace did.

I was still a little sad though. Why did Ace have to go and not Reinette? I mean go back to Louis already! What are you waiting around for?

Sorry.

What came after this little melodramatic scene between Rose and Ace shocked all of us because none of us saw it coming. We all thought that she was happy here. I think that watching Rose and Ace talking about their feelings for each other awakened something in her though.

"Rose? Can I talk with you?" Polly asked.

"Of course. What is it?" Rose asked.

"I think that I'd like to travel with you and the Doctor too. I miss Mary and Alex. I've had a lot of fun here with Donald, River, and the others, but I need to be with my family," Polly said.

Rose smiled as she said, "Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Of course you can travel with us, Polly. I know that Mary and Alex miss you too. Especially Mary. She thinks of you as a mother more than a grandmother I know she does. When you wanted to go with River and Ace before, I didn't try to stop you because I thought that you would be safer with River than me. Now though I'd love to welcome you aboard. I've wanted to get to know you better anyway. I'm sure you can tell me all kinds of stories about the Doctor in his early days. You were there when he regenerated the first time after all, and I'd really like to hear that story. I wish I could have been there to help him through it."

Yet another loss, and it felt like a blow to my hearts. Why was everyone leaving but the one person that I wanted to leave? Come on, Reinette!

I was totally shocked by Polly wanting to leave. I had come to think of her as a good friend, and I really didn't want to see her go. Now I was starting to understand how the Doctor felt whenever someone left him.

I could tell that Donald and the others were feeling the same way. They stared at Polly in shock just like I was doing.

"I'm sorry that I never discussed it with any of you. I've been missing my kids for some time now and seeing Rose and Ace together just made it all very clear for me," Polly admitted.

"We're all going to miss you, Polly. I know that we'll see you around though. I mean we cross paths with the Doctor and Rose every other week it seems like. You'll be seeing us again in no time," Donald said.

"I'm going to miss you," Polly said as she hugged Donald.

Then she hugged me as she said, "I'll miss you too. You're a little crazier than I'm used to, but your heart is still in the right place."

"Thanks. Don't go telling anyone though. I don't want word of that to get around to anyone else," I said.

"What do you mean?" Polly asked confused.

"Don't tell anyone that I have a heart. It might ruin my image," I joked.

Polly hugged me as she laughed. I really was going to miss her.

What? Don't look at me like that. So what if I'm developing feelings for other people all of a sudden? It doesn't mean anything. I'm still tough and cold inside for the most part. I'm just a little freer with my emotions since Kovarian's gone that's all.

Polly hugged everyone else in our little group too as she told them good bye. She even hugged Reinette. I think that it was a pity hug though.

"I'll be seeing all of you later," Ace said as she and Polly both waved good bye. Then the three of them left in yet another big showy display as Rose took them to the Doctor's TARDIS.

Donald looked sad as he went back to the console and started messing around with the controls. I knew that he was just pretending to be doing something in order to cover up his feelings though.

"I'll miss them both too, Donnie," I said as I came up behind him and put my arms around him.

Donald tried hard not to smile as he said, "You're not leaving me too, are you?"

"Not a chance. You should be so lucky. You won't ever get rid of me," I said as I kissed him.

"Who says I want to?" Donald asked as he kissed me back.

Then we were interrupted once again by yet another arrival as a woman that I recognized as the Doctor's mother, Elizabeth, appeared wearing a Vortex Manipulator with who I thought at the time was the Doctor and another blonde woman that I didn't recognize. Donald smiled to see her, and I knew that he thought of her as his mother too which she was more or less. Luckily for him, she felt the same way about him.

"Hello!" Elizabeth said as she hugged Donald.

"What are you two doing here? You know you just missed Rose," Donald said to the other Doctor.

"She was here?" the man who I thought was the Doctor said with sadness.

"Yeah, you just missed her. You'll see her soon enough later though. Why do you look so sad about missing her for?" Donald asked confused.

"He's not who you think he is. He's not the original Doctor. He's a Ganger," Elizabeth explained.

"No!" Donald said in that overdramatic way of his as he looked the Ganger Doctor up and down.

I looked at him in shock too. I never would have known the difference at first glance. When I got closer to him though, I could tell. There was something just not right about him. There was something a little bit off. I couldn't tell you for sure what it was, but I knew that he wasn't completely the same. Call it an ex-wife's intuition if you want. I just know the real Doctor when I see him, and this wasn't him. He was close but no cigar.

"Amazing! They do those Gangers pretty good, don't they?" Donald said in appreciation.

"I just thought that I'd come here and visit. It's no big deal really. There's no need to make a fuss unless you want to of course. I mean I am pretty wonderful," the Ganger said with a grin.

"The ego's the same that's for sure," I joked.

"And you are?" Donald asked the blonde woman.

"I'm Charlotte. Charlotte Avery," the woman said in a shy manner.

"She's my friend," the Ganger said.

Yeah, right. Someone needs to tell her that. She's been eyeing me with intense jealousy ever since she saw me. She thinks that I'm the competition. She doesn't need to worry though. I'm happily involved with Donald now. She should worry about Reinette going after him instead of me!

I think that's a record for the number of Reinette slams in one chapter. Correct me if I'm wrong.

"I'm River Song and this is my boyfriend, Donald," I said as I stressed the word boyfriend.

I could see her relax and start to smile now as she said, "It's so nice to meet you."

Sure it is now that you know that I'm not after your man, Charlotte. I had to admit that I was starting to like her even if she was a little bit too meek for my tastes.

I was wondering why Elizabeth had brought the two of them here when I heard her whisper to Donald, "They don't have anywhere to go. She's from the 22nd century. You could either take them back to her apartment in her own time or . . ."

"Or what?" Donald whispered.

"I thought that you might want to let them travel with you. I know that he's dying to go somewhere again. I mean he's you after all. He doesn't like sitting still, and he's had to stay in one time and place for two years now. I think he's going stir crazy. He wants to get to travel again," Elizabeth pleaded.

"Why me? Why not his identical twin?" Donald asked.

"He's got his own problems lately. He's been really depressed lately ever since Trenzalore, and I didn't want to bother him with it," Elizabeth said.

"Oh, sure. Don't bother him. Stick him with me. I mean it's not like I have any problems too or anything," Donald complained.

"Please. Do this for me. Let him have the ability to travel in time and space back," Elizabeth said.

I could see Donald weakening, and he hesitated before answering. I knew that he was going to cave into her well before he actually did it. If there was anyone besides me or Rose who could make him do anything that they wanted him to, it was Elizabeth.

"Alright. I'll do it for you. I don't have to like it though," Donald said as he pouted.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said as she hugged him.

Donald smiled at her with a big silly grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile myself at his reaction. The Doctor was the same no matter what form he was in. All of the Doctors loved Elizabeth immensely.

"Hello, River. How are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm doing great. Did you hear the big news?" I asked her.

"What news?" Elizabeth asked.

"Why am I not surprised that he didn't tell you? Donald and I are dating now," I said.

"Well, it's about time. I was wondering how long it'd take before he woke up and realized how perfect you are for him. That's wonderful," Elizabeth said as she hugged me.

"I am perfect, aren't I?" I asked with no feeling of shame for doing so.

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head at me. She was no doubt thinking that I was just like Donald. I freely admitted that. It was one of the reasons that we got along so well. We both have huge egos and are just a little bit crazy. Okay, a lot crazy.

"Congratulations!" Elizabeth said as she hugged Donald too now.

"Thanks! I'm a really lucky man," Donald said.

My smile became so much wider now as that comment really touched me. I felt like that I was the lucky one to find Donald after losing the Doctor.

I could see the Ganger Doctor looking at me so sadly. I could tell what he was thinking. Not only had Rose been taken away from him but so had I. I hated to cause him pain, but I loved Donald not him. Besides, he had Charlotte. He would wake up and notice her sooner or later, and all would be well. At least I hoped so.

Then I noticed someone else looking at the Ganger. It was Joan. Could it be? I started wondering if she saw the Ganger as her own second (or really third) chance to finally get the Doctor even if he didn't look the same as the one that she fell in love with. Maybe Joan would wind up with the Doctor after all. I kind of liked that idea.

"Would you two like to travel with me?" Donald asked the Ganger as if it were his idea and not Liz's.

"Of course. I'm dying to get back into a TARDIS again. Staying in one place too long almost drove me bonkers. Sorry, Charlotte. No offense meant," the Ganger said without hesitation.

"None taken. I know how much you've wanted to go traveling again. You almost drove me bonkers too because you couldn't keep still. You just kept messing around with my apartment 'improving' it," Charlotte said with a laugh.

I could only imagine what 'improvements' he made. I wondered if her apartment was still in one piece by the time that he was through and if they still had any toasters.

Elizabeth left then and I heard the Ganger whisper to Donald, "She talked you into it, didn't she?"

"No, of course not. I do what I want. No one tells me what to do," Donald boasted.

"Stand up straight, Donald," I said with a grin.

"Yes, dear," Donald said as the Ganger laughed at him.

"What are you laughing at?" I said to the Ganger with an angry scowl.

"Nothing. Nothing whatsoever," the Ganger said as he quickly stopped laughing.

"That's better," I said as Charlotte looked at me with a newfound sense of respect on her face.

"Now that's how it's done, dear," I said to her with a huge grin on my face.

I saw the Ganger looking at me with such a sense of longing on his face and I just sighed. This was not going to be easy. I realized then that the Ganger wasn't going to give up on me quite yet if ever. I was going to have to make it very clear to him that I was off limits if he didn't stop soon.

Luckily Donald didn't seem to notice his attention to me as he concentrated on the console. He saw our next destination and said in excitement, "Oh, good. We're coming back to 2013 London. I've wanted to see it again since the Silence invaded. I hope that candy shop I like is still there. I don't want to buy too much though. I'd like to keep these teeth as long as I can since I can't regenerate anymore."

"I could always give you some of my regenerations," I offered.

He looked at me in shock and deep appreciation as he said, "I couldn't take them, River. I wouldn't feel right about it."

"I plan on giving them to you anyway one day whether you like them or not. I'm not letting you go anywhere if I can help it," I said to him.

He looked at me as if seeing me for the first time, but he said nothing. I think I had touched him very deeply by offering my lives to him that way. I meant what I had said though. I was keeping him by my side no matter what even if I had to sacrifice some of my life cycle to do it. I wasn't sure if it would work or not since he wasn't a full Time Lord, but I was going to try when the time came.

We landed in London right across the street from this little candy shop that Donald couldn't resist going to every time that we came here. He ran over there like a little boy as I rolled my eyes at him.

At that moment, a dark haired woman driving a red double decker bus stopped right in front of me and jumped out of it. She looked at Donald and then at the TARDIS in shock as she said, "It's him!"

She started to race off after Donald before I could stop her, and she caught up to him right before he got to the front door of the candy shop. She stopped him by shouting at him; and as he turned to see who she was, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him!

I felt my hand going for my gun on instinct, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to shoot her down on the spot as I saw her practically gnawing Donald's face off. I marched up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" she asked as she finally managed to tear her face away from Donald's.

That's when I punched her right in the kisser. She landed flat on her back on top of the sidewalk. I had knocked her out cold in one punch.

"Who was that?" I demanded.

"I have no idea, but she was a pretty good kisser," Donald said with a smile on his face.

As he saw me pulling my fist back, he quickly said, "She's not as good as you though. You're the best. The best I've ever had!"

"That's better. Who is she?" I demanded again.

"I honestly don't know," Donald said.

"I can answer that. That's Lady Christina," the Ganger said.

"Who?" Donald asked.

"She was after your time. I met her not long after you went off with Rose," the Ganger explained.

"Oh so that's why she kissed me. She met this version of us, and she thinks that I'm the same man because I look the same. I get it now," Donald said.

"Why did she kiss him like that?" I demanded.

"She fancied me. I mean who could blame her. I was never serious with her though. That was right after I had lost both Donna and Rose, and I was not in the mood to even take on a new companion again much less get in a relationship. She was quite forward I guess you could say," the Ganger said.

"I'll say. I hope that I've taught her to not be so quick to kiss someone in the future," I said proudly.

"I think that she'll get that message loud and clear, River. That and the message that you're a complete psycho," Donald said angrily.

"Thank you very much!" I said proudly.

"That wasn't a compliment!" Donald said with a sigh.

"It was to me," I said as I kissed him.

I gave him a good long kiss and as I broke it off I said, "Tell me that wasn't better than hers. I dare you."

"It was better by a mile," Donald said with that wonderful smile of his.

"That's my Pretty Boy!" I said proudly.

"I told you not to call me that in public," Donald said in a low voice as the Ganger laughed at him.

"What's wrong with it?" I said unconcerned.

Lady Christina finally woke up from her long sleep, and she glared at me while saying, "Who do you think you are?"

"His girlfriend, that's who!" I said as I looked at her with a grim smile on my face.

"Oh, sorry! I guess I should have known that he'd find someone else by now. Oh, well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?" Lady Christina said with no shame whatsoever.

"If you decide to venture his way again, I'll have to use my gun next time," I warned her.

"Okay, you've convinced me. Where did you find her, and can you drop her back off there?" Lady Christina asked with a grin.

Great! That was just what I needed. Another Reinette. This one was even worse because she never shut up. Not even after I knocked her out! You'd think that would be a very good hint to her to go away, but obviously no one ever accused this woman of having common sense or any sense at all for that matter.

"So where have you been all of this time? I've been wandering around in my bus that you gave me trying to keep from being found by the police for that little misunderstanding that we have between us about those things that I may or may not have taken. I suppose that you've been off having a good old time in your time machine that you never bothered to take me in. I never even got to see the inside of it," Lady Christina complained.

"Really? I can't imagine why he would have done that," I said with a superior smile.

"Do we have to have her along? Now that you have me here why do you need her for? I'm a much better kisser I bet. I saw that look on your face," Lady Christina said with a smug grin.

She had just knocked Reinette from the number one place on my hit list; and if she didn't shut up, she was going to get reacquainted with my fist very quickly followed by my gun.

As Donald saw the look on my face, he quickly said, "Lady Christina, I hate to be rude, but I'm simply not interested in you. I mean you're a good kisser. A phenomenal kisser as a matter of fact, but I love River. I love her, Lady Christina. I'm not even the Doctor that you met before. I'm his clone, and I was created before he even met you so I really have no memories of you."

Lady Christina's face fell as he said this, and I almost felt sorry for her as she said, "Oh, so I've made a complete fool out of myself then. I'm sorry. I guess I'll be going then."

She started to walk away then, and she would have been out of our lives forever in another five seconds. So of course, Donald had to take pity on her and open his big mouth.

"Lady Christina, why don't you travel with me? I'm not interested in you that way, but I could still let you travel with me to make it up to you that the other me never took you anywhere before," Donald offered.

"I'm going to kill you," I whispered to him.

"Do you mean it? Of course I will. I'd love to go. Thank you! Thank you!" Lady Christina said in excitement as she hugged Donald tightly.

Donald looked at me with an apologetic look on his face as she turned her back to me, and I glared daggers at him as I mouthed 'You're dead!' to him several times.

"I knew it. It was a good kiss, wasn't it?" I heard Lady Christina whisper in Donald's ear.

As she ran into Donald's TARDIS in excitement, I pulled back my fist and let it go. Donald screamed and Lady Christina popped her head back out of the TARDIS to see Donald lying unconscious on the pavement.

"What is it with you? You really need to take some anger management courses," Lady Christina said with a sigh.

"As soon as you go away, I won't need any," I said firmly.

"He invited me and it's his ship so deal with it," Lady Christina said with her nose up in the air as she walked back into the TARDIS.

"I wonder if I could make it look like an accident," I said to myself as I dragged Donald's unconscious body into the TARDIS.

Reinette was starting to look really good to me at this point. I'd gladly trade her for Her Highness any time.

"Does anybody know how to get my bus inside of this ship? I'd really like to keep it," Lady Christina asked.

"Maybe I could just push her in the path of an oncoming train. Oh, I know! Maybe Oswin could loan me one of her Daleks, and I could arrange for her to be in the way of its gun stalk at a crucial moment. I'm sure Oswin would go for it once I explain just how evil Christina is," I grumbled to myself.

"Reinette's looking really good right now, isn't she?" Lydia said with a grin.

"Zip it, Lydia, before I remember that I forgave you for kissing Donald and let you take a little nap on a concrete pillow," I threatened.

"What happened to Donald?" Megan asked in concern as I dragged him inside.

"He had an argument with my fist and he lost," I said.

"River's knocked Donald out again," Megan said to the others.

"It must be Wednesday," Astrid said with a sigh.

"I still think that I can get my bus inside here if you could just widen the door a little bit," Lady Christina said.

I was starting to get nostalgic for the days when all I had to worry about was Joan Redfern. I had to admit that Reinette was looking very good right now, and I never thought I'd say that.

Watch out, Prime. You're next on my hit list if you keep this kind of thing up.

**Next: Despite Lady Christina's presence, River and Donald start to seriously discuss marriage plans while they get involved in the middle of a serious threat to all life on Earth as one of the Doctor's old enemies, the Krynoids, return.**


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

I do not own Doctor Who or Charlie's Angels and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

I had to hurt Time Lord Prime a little after that disastrous last chapter. I kept his hands intact though. I have to keep him able to keep typing up my story after all. I hope that the two of us came to a little understanding. If not, I could always use my gun on him next time. There are other settings on it besides kill after all.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Christina or Her Highness as I call her, I had to reassure myself that Donald was still on the same page that I was. I did that in my usual fashion as soon as I cornered a newly conscious Donald in the TARDIS' kitchen.

"River, you and I both know that your gun is on a stun setting so pointing it at my head isn't really threatening me that much. I could probably use a good rest for a while," Donald said with a grin.

"Trust me, Pretty Boy, it's not on stun," I said.

I picked up a plate from the table and threw it up into the air. I shot at it and disintegrated it into dust before it could hit the floor.

Donald looked at me in horror, and I knew that he would answer any and all questions truthfully from that point on. Now before any of you start yelling at me, I had the gun on a non-lethal setting where it couldn't hurt organic beings. He didn't have to know that though. The most it would have done is to disintegrate his clothes. Excuse me while I take a minute to get that image out of my mind.

**Hello, Time Lord Prime here. I just wanted to take a minute here to reassure everyone that no Time Lords were harmed in the making of this chapter. Now back to River.**

Okay, I'm back. So now that I had Donald where I wanted him I asked him what I wanted to know. I had to know something for sure before we could progress any further in our relationship.

"You seemed to enjoy Her Highness' kiss. Do you have any feelings for her? I need to know. We seem to have a lot of your old flames on board this TARDIS, and you just invited another one to join us. It's like Donnie's Angels here now if you haven't noticed. Are we all eye candy for you to look at, or is it just a coincidence that everyone that your tenth incarnation ever had any kind of romantic feelings for is here now except for Rose?" I asked him point blank.

"I have to be honest. I did enjoy the kiss. It was a very good kiss. It was an amazing kiss actually," Donald said with a big smile.

I glared at him, and he quickly added, "I didn't kiss her back though. I don't have any feelings for her whatsoever. I never even met her before. That was the other Doctor not me. I only asked her to come along because she looked so sad. I think that she really just wants to see the universe, River. As for everyone else, I only think of them as friends. I wanted to give Astrid the chance to travel with me that she never got thanks to Max Capricorn, Reinette just wants closure to our relationship so I'm giving it to her, I don't have those feelings for Joan anymore since I met you even though I still care about her, I never had any feelings for Lydia to start with except when I was influenced by Omega, and Megan is a good friend only. Does that satisfy you? I only love you. I don't know why though since you seem determined to shoot me," Donald said.

"It's on a non-lethal setting," I said with an evil grin.

"I know. I was just playing along," Donald said with a mischievous grin as he kissed me.

"Do you think now that the ganger is here that they'll all go after him and leave you alone?" I asked in a hopeful voice.

"They were never after me except Christina, and I think that she's gotten over that now. I would love to see them go after him though. That might be fun to watch. Poor old Chinny," Donald said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't worry about him. He probably won't even realize that they're interested in him. Just like he doesn't realize that his friend Charlotte is," I said.

"Charlotte's interested in Chinny?" Donald asked in surprise.

I sighed loudly as I said, "Clueless! How did the other you ever get Rose?"

"She had to tell me that she loved me actually," Donald admitted.

"Why am I not surprised?" I said with a laugh.

"I love you, River. You and only you," Donald suddenly said in a serious voice.

"What about Rose?" I asked.

He hesitated and then finally said, "I'll always love her. I'm sorry if that bothers you."

"It doesn't bother me at all. I just wanted to see if you would be honest with me or not. If you had said no, I'd know that you were lying. I can take you still loving Rose because I know that she's not interested in you," I said.

"I would pick you if I had to choose between the two of you," Donald said.

My face lit up into a huge smile, and I kissed him passionately. He had completely surprised me with that statement but in a good way.

I could see Christina walk in on us while we were in the middle of that kiss. She looked very sad for a moment, but then she gave me a warm smile. She then quickly left. I think even Her Highness knew that Donald was not hers and never would be at that point. It was to her credit that she gave up gracefully.

See? I can be generous when I have to. I still can't stand her though.

As soon as we finished kissing, Donald asked, "How do you feel about marriage?"

I smiled at him as I said, "I thought you'd never ask. I'd rather have a more formal proposal though and a ring. I insist on a ring, the bigger the better. You already know what the answer's going to be, but I still want you to get down on one knee in front of me. I mean you might as well get used to the subordinate position in this relationship from the start."

Donald laughed at me as he said, "I kind of figured that out early on. So you do want to get married?"

"Of course I do. If I didn't, I'd have already let you know it. You know me, Donald. I never beat around the bush about anything. I'm a straightforward kind of girl. I would love to be your wife. Hopefully this time there isn't some Rose clone around the corner waiting to try to take that away from me," I said.

"I told you that I would pick you over her, and I meant it. Besides, I'm pretty sure that clone of Rose was disintegrated a long time ago," Donald joked.

"She'd better not stick her head around here if she wasn't. Not if she wants to stay that way," I said with a laugh.

"When do you want me to propose?" Donald asked.

"That's good, Donnie. You're asking for my permission. You're learning already. I'll have you thoroughly trained in no time. I say that you should wait and ask me after you've had sufficient time to get a nice ring. Take your time in getting it. I mean it's not like I'll beat you to within an inch of your life if you don't get me a large enough stone or anything," I said with a wink at him.

"I'll ask you soon. I don't want to keep you waiting for long. I just want to do it right. Plus I like surprises. I really do love you, River. I want you to know that," Donald said.

"I know. I love you too, Donald," I said with a serious face for once as I kissed him tenderly.

The TARDIS started to shake violently, but we were too busy kissing to notice it. It wasn't until I heard a familiar and very annoying voice start speaking that I was snapped out of the moment. It was then that I remembered to my regret that we weren't alone on this ship.

Maybe I could talk Donald into doing something about that. Well, I might keep Megan and Astrid. They're not so bad.

"I just thought that I'd tell you that the TARDIS is being attacked by a giant plant. I don't know if you're interested in that sort of thing or not. If not, then by all means go back to your little love fest," Christina said with a smile.

"Oh, a Krynoid! I haven't seen one of those in a long time!" Donald said in an excited voice as he raced to the Console Room.

Christina walked up to me then before I could leave the kitchen and said, "I just wanted you to know that I didn't realize that you two were serious. I won't bother him anymore I promise."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. If you're still interested in landing yourself a Doctor though, that fellow with the bow tie and the big chin is a clone of the Doctor too. I mean I know that it doesn't seem as if he could possibly be the same man, but trust me he is. He's also unattached at the moment as far as I know," I said.

"I don't know. He just isn't the same. I was attached to Donald's version of him. I'm just not so sure about Mr. Bow Tie," Christina said.

"He'll grow on you. I promise. I notice that you're not too surprised about the concept of regeneration," I noted.

"I've had a long time to research the Doctor. I found out a lot about him. Not everything but a lot so I do know about how he's had several different faces over the years. I'm not just a very pretty face," Christina said.

"Why don't you just try talking to him? I bet you'll fall for him in no time. I mean he is basically the same man after all," I insisted.

"You're just trying to get me paired off with him to make sure that I leave Donald alone, aren't you?" Christina asked with a grin.

"You see right through me. I'm really doing it for you though. I mean I really don't want to have to kill you if you go near him again. He seems to have developed some kind of attachment to you I have no idea why so I'd rather not kick you out into space as much fun as that would be," I said.

"He's become attached to me already? Really? What did he say about me?" Christina asked intrigued.

I glared at her without speaking and she laughed as she said, "It's so much fun getting under your skin. I'll have to remember to do it more often."

Then she walked away from me laughing, and I had to suppress the urge to burn her hair off with a well-placed blaster shot. Maybe I had at least gotten the message through to her though that Donald was off limits. She seemed to have understood that much.

As I headed towards the Console Room, the TARDIS shook violently again, and I found Donald looking at the monitor with glee. He pointed at a giant Krynoid on the screen with unbridled excitement like a small child showing something to his parents as he said, "It's a Krynoid. I really missed those. It's been a long time since I've gone up against a giant man-eating alien plant. Oh, the memories! I remember facing off against one of these with Sarah Jane. That was back when I was still with UNIT, and I went around in the long scarf. Oh, those were the days!"

"I'm so sorry I missed that," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, you would have loved it, River. What's better than giant plant monsters from space?" Donald said with glee.

"I know! They're just so cool! It kind of makes me nostalgic for the Vervoids," the Ganger Doctor, who really needed a name, said with an equally happy grin on his face.

"Why? The Vervoids were nowhere near as interesting as the Krynoids," Donald said with a frown.

"True but they did have a certain something. I mean they did have a certain coolness to them you must admit," the ganger said.

"The Vervoids were boring," Donald said.

"Were not," the ganger protested.

"Were too," Donald said.

"Children! Excuse me! Children! Can we please figure out why a giant plant creature wants us dead? Not to mention how to kill it?" I said as I tried to get the two of them to focus on the problem at hand.

"I'm not a child!" both Donald and the ganger said at the same time as they both pouted.

"I see what you mean now. They are a lot alike. He is kind of sexy too now that I think about it," Christina said to me.

I inwardly jumped up and down as it seemed as if Christina was falling for my diabolical plan to pair her off with the ganger. I noticed Charlotte staring daggers into me, but I didn't care. Better you than me, dear!

"Donald, River asks a good question. Why is that thing after us, and how do we stop it?" Astrid asked.

"Welll, Astrid. I think that it's safe to say that the TARDIS is probably stored in the Krynoids' race memory as an enemy. Therefore, it automatically attacked me. I've fought with them a lot after all," Donald said.

"Funny how you seem to bring out that reaction in everyone," I said.

The Ganger Doctor took over then as he said, "To answer your second question, Astrid, Krynoids can be killed by blowing them up. UNIT blew one the size of a house up by bombing it from the air. They also don't like loud noises or high temperatures. It's too bad that we don't have Ace here. She would have enjoyed creating an explosion to take care of it."

"They don't like high temperatures?" Astrid asked with an evil grin on her face.

"No, they don't," the Ganger replied with a smile of his own as he realized what she was getting at.

Astrid immediately left the TARDIS followed by the rest of us as we watched her confront the giant plant. She changed into her plasma form and immediately set it on fire by releasing a massive burst of heat at it. The Krynoid screamed in pain as it became engulfed in flames.

As the Krynoid died, I looked around me to see that all of the Londoners were racing away from the scene in a mass panic just as they usually did when something like this happened. You'd think that they'd be used to it by now since alien invasions in London seemed to happen every other day and just walk by talking on their cell phones while ignoring it. I suppose that not everyone has as high a tolerance for such things as I do, however. To me fighting giant aliens out to destroy the world just means that it's Monday after all.

"Is that it? That's very disappointing. I was hoping for more of a battle than that," Christina complained.

"You're very strange," Megan said to Christina as she gave her an odd look.

That kind of statement coming from an android who used to be human really says something about just how out there Her Highness is I think.

"What? Just because I wanted to have a little something more for my first adventure I'm suddenly weird? I just thought that there would have been more to it than that that's all," Christina said.

"You shouldn't be saying that. That's like practically asking for it," Lydia said.

"What do you mean?" Christina asked.

"You're practically asking for something to go wrong by complaining about how easy that was. Haven't you ever watched any movies before?" Lydia asked.

"I'm too busy planning ways to liberate beautiful and fabulous objects from their unappreciative owners to worry about watching movies. It's not so much that I want the objects as for the thrill. I could easily replace that thrill with the action of going up against aliens though, but only if the aliens can't be beaten by a boy scout with a very large campfire, however. I mean, where's the fun in defeating an alien as easily as that?" Christina complained.

"I have to say that I agree with her. It is kind of boring. I can't believe that I left the TARDIS for this," the ganger said.

"It should be any second now," I said as I looked at my watch while waiting for the universe to lower the boom on us.

"What are you doing?" Donald asked me with a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm counting down to something really bad happening to us because of all of this whining and complaining. I'd say that we have about five seconds left now," I said.

Suddenly an army of at least a dozen Krynoids appeared out of nowhere and started tearing up the city. It was almost as if they had been transmatted in. Who would do such a thing though and why?

Those questions would have to wait until later though as it seemed that we were in for that good fight that Christina wanted after all. I knew that she was trouble.

"It seems that they decided to come early this time. We still had a couple of seconds left," I joked to Donald.

"Well, the Krynoids were never known for keeping to schedules. If you wanted right on time, you'd have to wait for the Daleks to show up. Now that's perfect timing every time. They're so predictable that it's beyond belief," Donald said.

Several Daleks suddenly started to appear out of nowhere and started blasting the entire area. Donald and I just looked at each in disbelief. Just what was going on here?

"The next person that mentions the name of an alien or a monster gets a split lip," I said as a determined force of Daleks and Krynoids advanced towards us with murder on their minds.

"Now this is more like it!" Christina said with a huge grin on her face.

"Like I said, strange!" Megan said as she rolled her eyes at her.

I knew Megan would be on my side.

**Next: What is going on here? We'll found out next time as all is revealed. Let's just say that Lady Christina is going to love what happens next. It's definitely not going to end easily or quickly. Oh and the Ganger Doctor finally gets a name. I'll give you a hint. It's not Chinny. **


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

As several Daleks and Krynoids came chasing after us, I tried out a theory of mine as I said, "Do you know who could really stop the Daleks and the Krynoids? Rose. I'm sure she'd smack them down very quickly."

I shuddered inside after saying that, but I really needed to see if what I believed was happening here was true or not. Plus I had an idea that we might need her in order to undo the problems that we were having now.

I frowned as nothing happened. I wondered if maybe my theory was wrong after all.

"I'll tell you who we need. We need the Mechanoids. I remember that a bunch of them actually destroyed some Daleks once. Well, they were destroyed too but still. At least the Daleks were gone," the Ganger Doctor said as he took his new sonic screwdriver that Donald had given to him out of his coat pocket and started to use it to send several of the Daleks flying into the Krynoids in the hope that they would both start fighting with each other and leave us alone.

"Who are the Mechanoids? They sound like a bad heavy metal group," Christina commented while the Krynoids began attacking the Daleks as they tried their best to rip through their shells while wrapping their tendrils around them.

"They're a group of sphere shaped robots who humans in the future made to help them colonize other worlds. They were eventually abandoned and forgotten on the planet Mechanus and became pretty much their own species there. I once took some Daleks who were chasing me there, and the Mechanoids didn't take too kindly to them invading their world. It was a big mess, but at least I got rid of the Daleks," the Ganger Doctor explained while the Daleks and the Krynoids started killing each other and gave us a short breather for a while.

"They sound made up to me, but I've heard of weirder things out there. I still remember the fly people who we met. They were pretty weird too and kind of gross," Christina said with a fond smile.

"Oh, the Tritovores. Yeah, I remember. I loved the Tritovores! The Tritovores were cool!" the Ganger Doctor said.

"Aren't they the aliens who eat dung?" Donald asked with a grimace.

"Yeah, I know but fly people. That's still pretty cool!" the ganger said.

"Yeah, you're right. I hate to admit it Chinny, but you're right," Donald said with a huge grin.

"You know you really need a name. We have to call you something, and I'm sure that you would prefer it not be Chinny," I said to the Ganger Doctor.

"You're right about that. Chinny is not a cool name. I need a cool name so that I can establish myself as someone that you don't mess around with. I need a name that strikes terror in the hearts of everyone who hears it," the Ganger Doctor said.

"How about Matt? I once knew a Matt. He always scared me I'll tell you. I used to run and hide whenever he came around to ask me out on a date. He was nowhere near as handsome as you are though, or I might have taken him up on the offer," Christina suggested to him with a seductive smile.

"Matt? Yeah, that's really scary!" I said with a laugh.

"I like it. Thank you, Christina! How about I call myself Matt Pond? What do you think, River? Do you think that Amy would be okay with me using her last name?" Matt asked.

"I think I can safely say that she'll be touched, Mr. Pond," I said with a chuckle.

Matt frowned at that as he said, "Don't call me that. Maybe using the name Pond wasn't such a good idea after all."

"Don't worry. I won't call you that again, Matt. I was just playing around. Seriously, you should use that name. She'd want you to," I said.

It was then that I noticed that the Krynoids and the Daleks had suddenly been joined by some sphere shaped robots and a bunch of fly people with guns. They were all now fighting with each other, and we suddenly had a four-way war! It had happened again!

Yet again an alien race mentioned by one of the Doctors or Christina suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Yet when I mentioned Rose, nothing happened at all. I couldn't understand it.

Why didn't my little bit of name dropping work?

I decided to try a different tactic as I said, "Now if only all four groups of aliens would just disappear. I mean they're all just killing each other anyway. It's gotten kind of boring, hasn't it? This fight just isn't any fun anymore."

"You're right for once, River. This is not as fun as I had imagined that it would be when they all first started showing up. We're just standing around here talking. I could just watch television and get the same effect," Christina agreed with a frown on her face.

Suddenly all of the aliens vanished as if they were never even there in the first place. I smiled as I believed that I had finally figured out what was going on here or at least part of it anyway.

"How are you doing this, Christina?" I asked her point blank.

I could tell that Christina was genuinely shocked as she said, "I'm not doing anything. I'm just as much in the dark about what's going on around here as you are."

"It seems to have something to do with you. Whatever alien species excites you and promises to give you a good time for your first adventure with us automatically appears and starts causing trouble. When someone says that an alien race is boring like Donald said about the Vervoids or if it's someone who would quickly end the fight like Rose, then they don't appear. Then when I convinced you that the four groups of aliens fighting wasn't any fun anymore, they all vanished in the blink of an eye. Isn't that funny, Christina?" I asked her.

Christina began to look upset for the first time since I had met her, and her usual careful smile had disappeared completely. I was a good student of human nature, and I knew that she wasn't faking it when she said that she didn't know what was going on. I realized that Christina truly had not even thought of any of the points that I had brought up until just now, and now I had her scared that maybe it really was all about her.

"What's going on?" Christina asked in a scared voice.

"It's okay, Christina. We'll get to the bottom of it," Matt reassured her.

I saw Charlotte glaring at Christina with anger as Matt put an arm around her to comfort her. Charlotte was completely jealous of Her Highness. I wondered to myself how much longer it would take before she would try to make a move on him herself. It seemed that now she no longer had him to herself that she would have to or wind up losing him for good.

Knowing the Doctor as I did though, I was sure that Matt was totally oblivious that either woman had any feelings for him whatsoever. I'm sure that he just thought of both of them as good friends. There's one thing that you can always count on about any version of the Doctor whether they're clones or not, he's always a complete idiot when it comes to seeing what's right in front of him.

"You seem to know what's going on already, Melody," Donald said.

I looked at him with a huge smile on my face as I said, "Say that again."

"I said that you seem to know what's going on already," Donald said.

"No, you left out the best part. Say my name again," I said.

"River?" Donald asked.

"No, the other one," I said.

"Oh, Melody," Donald said.

"That's the one. That's the first time that you've ever called me that. I like it. Say it again," I said.

"Melody," Donald said with a smile.

As we smiled at each other, Christina lost her patience as she said, "River, I'll call you Melody if it'll get you to tell me what's going on here and what it has to do with me."

"It won't work if you do it. I don't fancy you," I said automatically without thinking about it.

"River!" Christina said in a scared voice.

I took pity on her then as I turned to her and said, "Alright, it's just a theory, but I think that you may have an Eternal attached to you. They could be using your thoughts and emotions to create the monsters and aliens that we've been seeing. They seem to want to keep you amused, and they're going to a lot of trouble to do it."

"An Eternal? Of course! That would make sense. I should have of thought of that. Oh! I'm so thick sometimes!" Donald said as he slapped his forehead.

"You said it not me," I said with a grin.

"The Eternals all left this universe though after the Time War. Are you sure that it could be one of them? It seems unlikely, and why would one of them attach themselves to Christina? Have you met anyone new lately?" Matt asked Christina.

"No. Not really. Not until I came across all of you. Just who are these Eternals anyway? Are they dangerous?" Christina asked with a concerned look on her face.

"They can be. They are a group of immortal and powerful beings who live outside of Time and never age. They look down on those of us who do age and call us Ephemerals. They consider us nothing but playthings for their own amusement. The only ones who they ever respected or looked up to were the Guardians of Time who they saw as leaders. They like to use the thoughts and memories of Ephemerals to amuse themselves since they have no creativity themselves and are always bored. They can actually create solid objects from the memories of others, and they can read their minds and feel their emotions. They usually don't care if they wind up killing their new toys in the process of relieving their boredom as they can always get a new one," I explained.

"I haven't met anyone new lately except for all of you," Christina insisted.

"Exactly," I said.

Donald looked at me intently as he said, "Melody, what are you trying to say?"

I couldn't help but smile at his using my original name again despite the seriousness of the situation as I said, "I'm saying that one of us is an Eternal who is using Christina for their own amusement. They actually seem to like you though, Christina. I have no idea why. So far everything they've done is to make your first time with us an exciting one for you."

"Oh, so someone's reading our thoughts and plucking things from our brains, but they like me so that's okay, is that it? Well, it's not okay with me. What if I do something to tick them off, and they decide to get rid of me? Or what if they just get bored of me? I don't like this. I don't like being played around with. Whichever one of you it is needs to stop! Do you hear me? Leave me out of your little games right now!" Christina shouted as she looked at all of us with suspicion now.

"Melody, you've got to be careful of what you're doing here. You're going to have us all turn on each other trying to find an Eternal when there may not even be one," Donald whispered to me.

"I have to call them out and let them know that we're onto them. Besides if the Eternal is who I think it is, they would never let anyone be hurt. They'll reveal themselves soon if I just keep putting the pressure on," I whispered back.

"Who is it?" Donald asked.

"That would be telling too soon. You'll have to figure it all out along with the rest of us for once. Besides, I might be wrong," I said with an evil grin.

"I doubt it. It amuses you to know something I don't, doesn't it?" Donald asked with a frown.

"No, what amuses me is to see how much that bothers you," I said to him as I gave him a quick kiss.

"Which one of you is it? Say something," Christina said as she glared at everyone.

I quickly ran through a list of suspects in my own mind as she did so. I knew it wasn't Donald or Matt. I know my Doctors, and they're real. Besides why would an Eternal pose as the Doctor? They can't stand him ever since that incident with the boat race through space and the Black Guardian. It was certainly not Astrid because she had been a prisoner of the Silence for years until recently. Joan had been taken out of her own time while being manipulated and used by the Carrionites, and that wouldn't have happened if she was an Eternal. The Eternals hated the Carrionites with a passion and would have wiped them out instantly if they bothered one of them. Reinette, as much as I wanted it to be her, had come to this time with Nicolas and had been with Jenny the entire time until she was inflicted on us so it wasn't her either.

That just left three suspects. Megan, Lydia, and Charlotte.

Megan was a companion of the Doctor in the past, and Donald seemed to believe that she was the same Megan that he had known before. What if she wasn't though? What if she was an Eternal in disguise as the original Megan and had been all along since the day she reappeared? She did just pop up out of nowhere after being away from the Doctor for years after all. I had grown to like and trust her since she had appeared, but I might have been fooled. That was highly unlikely but possible.

Then there was Lydia. We had just met her at that archaeological dig not too long ago and knew absolutely nothing about her previous life. All that we knew about her past was that we had met a man who said that he was her father. True she was under Omega's control for a long time, but she also wanted to come with us very badly for some reason. She seemed to crave adventure and excitement and became extremely attached to Donald. All of the signs seemed to point to her except for the fact that she was Omega's puppet for so long. That would seem to paint her as more a regular human than an Eternal.

The final suspect was Charlotte who seemed to be the obvious choice. She was a mystery to all of us after all. She just happened to be on hand to find Matt right after he appeared alive and well again. What a happy coincidence! I don't believe in coincidence though. However, she seems to hate Christina because of the attention she pays to Matt so why would she want to make her happy and keep her around? That seems to point the finger of suspicion away from her as well.

I knew who my gut was telling me was the Eternal, but I couldn't be sure about it just yet. I had to be very sure before I would accuse anyone and get an innocent person in hot water.

Christina meanwhile didn't seem to care who she accused. She was completely freaking out for once which amused me since she was usually so smug and sure of herself.

"It's you. I know it is," Christina said in an upset voice as she pointed a finger at Charlotte.

"No, I'm not an Eternal. I swear," Charlotte said.

"Leave her alone. She's been with me for two years, Christina. I think I'd know if she was an Eternal," Matt said as he placed himself in front of Charlotte to protect her.

I saw a smile go up on Charlotte's usually emotionless face for once, and I knew that she was pleased at his reaction. Was that just because she liked him, or was there another reason?

"It is her. I'm sure of it. She showed up here at around the same time that I did, and she's so quiet all of the time. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it? Of course it's her. It has to be," Christina said as her usual confidence seemed to return now that she thought she had everything figured out at last.

"I'm not an Eternal. Besides that, I don't know if you're noticed it or not, but I really don't like you so why would I want to make you happy?" Charlotte said.

I smiled at Charlotte. That was the most I had heard coming from her since she joined us. I had to admit that her obvious hatred of Christina not only made me start to like her, but it made me almost positive now that she probably wasn't our Eternal.

Of course, I may be biased. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all of that.

"The feeling's definitely mutual, Charlotte. I don't like you either! So why don't you just stay out of my mind and get out of my life? Go back to wherever you came from. You can leave Matt here though. He's okay," Christina said with a huge smile.

"You keep away from him or I'll . . . ," Charlotte said in an explosion of anger, and then she stopped and looked away from everyone as she saw Matt staring at her in shock.

Okay, that convinced me. She was definitely not the Eternal. That outburst of anger was very, very real. There was no way that she would want Christina to be happy. She would have gone out of her way to drive her off if she were the Eternal.

"I don't think she's too worried about keeping you happy, Christina," Donald said with a grin.

"Who is it then? Are you doing this to scare me because guess what? It worked. I'm scared. I'm also angry though. I'm not going away. I'm going to find out who you are, and then I'm going to do whatever it takes to drive you out of my life. Do you hear me? Lady Christina de Souza never gives up, and she never backs down!" Christina said with renewed fire in her eyes and that confident swagger of hers back in full form now.

I had to admit that I almost liked her in that moment. Almost.

Finally Lydia stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she said, "Stop! Just stop. I don't want to scare or hurt you. I just wanted a friend. Everyone here hates me or barely tolerates me after what Omega made me do including Donald, and I saw you as a way to gain a new friend who would like me for me and not be prejudiced by what had happened before. I'm sorry."

Christina looked at her in shock as she studied the sadness in her face to see if she was lying or not. Now she was back to being unsure of anything anymore I could tell. Her first trip with us wasn't quite the fun little outing that she had thought it would be after all.

I, however, was smiling because I had been right. I knew it was her. The only thing that still didn't make sense was why Omega was able to use her like he was if she was an Eternal.

"Lydia, I think you have some explaining to do. You can start with giving me a reason why I shouldn't be calling Rose right now to deal with you," Donald said.

"Leave her alone, Donald. She's harmless. I can vouch for that," Ishtar, the Arkytior of the previous universe and the current White Guardian, said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, great! Now I'm in for it," Lydia said with a sigh.

"Donald is right though. You do have some explaining to do to everyone here so you might as well get it over with," Ishtar said.

"Can't you just wipe their memories of all of this and let me start over?" Lydia asked.

"No. Do it, young lady," Ishtar demanded.

I almost laughed as another piece of the puzzle that was Lydia finally fell into place, and I realized just who she was right before everyone else did.

"Alright, Mum! Alright! Stop with the young lady bit already. You know how I hate that," Lydia said with yet another sigh before she started to tell us her whole life's story.

It seems that there was much more to Lydia than any of us ever knew. I had always known that something was off about her, but I had also known that she was basically a good person. That was why I had allowed her to stay on the TARDIS and hadn't thrown her into the Vortex the first chance I got.

Now I listened in fascination right along with everyone else while I found out the full truth behind her at last.

**Next: The story of Lydia is revealed. Who is she and how did she become the daughter of Ishtar of all people? Also how did Omega take control over her if she was an Eternal?**


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

Lydia seemed to be very nervous and hesitated for a moment before she started to talk. I realized that I would need to give her a little coaxing first before she would get started.

"You need to get started while we're all still young, Lydia. Not that getting older is really a problem for me. I don't do old," I told her with a grin.

"It's okay, Lydia. Go ahead," Ishtar encouraged her.

"The man that you met really was my father. He's a human who fell in love with an Eternal named Veronica Tempus," Lydia started.

"Yeah, I'm sure that was a real name," I said sarcastically.

"That's ironic coming from you, River Song," Lydia said as she stressed my name.

"Touché, Lydia. Go ahead with your story," I said as I conceded her point.

"It probably wasn't her real name. Nothing else about her was real. She pretended to love my father, but all she was doing was using him. She used his imagination to amuse herself with. Then when she got bored with him, she left him. At least that's what he thought until she returned a few months later with me. She left me with him and said that she was bored with me already. She said I didn't interest her anymore. She just gave me up to him like I was nothing," Lydia said in tears.

"I'm sorry, Lydia," Donald said as her story touched him.

"So am I," I said meaning it.

As tragic as my early life was, at least I had two parents who loved me and wanted me. Most of the time, they were always there to take care of me when I needed them too even though they had no idea who I really was to them. Sometimes I forget just how fortunate I really am despite the terrible things that I had to suffer through. Something like Lydia's story always reminds me of that.

Lydia sobbed for a moment and then continued to tell her story as she said, "Thank you. My Dad does love me. I was lucky that I had at least one parent who cared about me. Everything went fine until I started to discover my powers when I was still very young. I was only a toddler so I didn't realize what I was doing. I started making the thoughts of everyone around me come to life as I manipulated reality based on them. I thought that it was cool at first until I realized that I was scaring people. Then I stopped using my powers. At least I did consciously anyway. Unconsciously, I still would use them sometimes when I was asleep or when I was daydreaming. I actually do have an imagination of my own since I'm half-human. That started to become a real problem when I started making my own dreams and nightmares come true without realizing it. My Dad had to wake me up several times in order to keep from being hurt or killed."

"How did you ever overcome that problem?" Christina asked.

Lydia smiled at Christina's interest, and I knew that it pleased her that she was asking about her life. For some reason, Lydia likes Christina. I have no idea why anyone would to be honest. She's headstrong, arrogant, and a know it all. Face it, we have nothing in common! It's no wonder that I don't like her.

"Luckily for me, Ishtar sensed my manipulation of reality, and she appeared in order to see what was going on. She was a little suspicious of me at first though, and I was afraid at first of what she might do to me. I made it clear to her, however, that I wasn't using my powers on purpose. She decided to stay and help me learn how to control them after that, and we started to become very close after a while. I started to think of her as the mother that I never had, and she was. She helped take care of me growing up, and I could always go to her when I had a problem. Then when I was grown, she left because she said that I was old enough to take care of myself now. Also because she sensed that Rose had finally opened her watch and would need her. Luckily, she still visited me from time to time even after that. This is the first time that I've seen her since I started traveling with you though," Lydia said.

"Tell them why that is, Lydia," Ishtar said in an annoyed voice.

I could certainly tell that Ishtar was Lydia's adopted mother. Only an angry mum would use that tone of voice with a child. Trust me, I'm an expert. I've heard that tone a lot.

"I'm sorry, Mum," Lydia said in an apologetic voice.

"I know you are. Just go ahead and tell them," Ishtar said in a gentler tone.

She let her off the hook a lot easier than I was ever let off. My mother would never let me get away with anything even when I was Mels! Especially when I was Mels!

"Mum told me to never use my powers and asked me to live my life as a human the best that I could. So I stayed with Dad and followed him around on archaeological digs. It was just so boring to me though. I wanted adventure and excitement. Maybe it was the Eternal in me. Anyway, I thought of Omega's ring and your appearance as a gift. The ring was a way that I could manipulate reality without using my own powers and gaining Mum's attention. I could still keep my promise to Mum and do what I wanted at the same time that way. I thought that since I was an Eternal that Omega wouldn't be able to control me like he did Dad. I was wrong though. He took over the human part of me and used me like a puppet. Now I know for sure that I would never do that to anyone. I know how it feels to be used. I'm sorry if I scared you, Christina. I just wanted to have someone to talk to. Someone who didn't hate me," Lydia said in a voice filled with sorrow.

Maybe I'm going soft, but even I wanted to comfort her at that point. I actually felt sorry for her. I need to go back to killing Daleks. That'll help me get my edge back.

"We never hated you, Lydia. What you did was completely reckless though, and it almost got us all killed. It's only because I knew that you were truly sorry about it that I allowed you to stay. You're not helping your cause any by bringing in monsters to attack us though," Donald said.

"I didn't let them hurt anyone. I would never do that. I just wanted Christina to have some fun so she would stay even though you obviously weren't going to fall for her. I'm sorry. I screwed up. Again. I guess I'll go home now with Mum," Lydia said sadly.

Donald looked at me. I knew that he wanted to give Lydia another chance to prove herself, but he wouldn't do it unless I agreed to it. I appreciated his consideration, and I let him know it by smiling at him and grasping his hand as I nodded my approval to him.

"I'm willing to let things go if you start keeping your promise to your mother and never use your powers again unless it's a major emergency like the end of the universe. I'm not even sure you should use them then really. Do you think you can do that? If you can't, then you do need to leave. I'm sorry to say that, Lydia, but it's the way that I feel," Donald said.

"No mind reading either," I quickly added.

"Yes, that's right. No reading anyone's mind either. Thanks, Melody," Donald said.

I quivered with delight as he said my name again. I don't know why but hearing him say my name really excites me and makes me think of doing certain things that I'm sure would make him blush if I told him about them. Unfortunately, those are also things that would earn this story an M rating if I mentioned them here. That blasted Prime has made it firm that he wants me to toe the line so I can't unfortunately. I can't keep any of you from imagining what I was thinking about yourselves though so please do.

Lydia became very excited as she said, "Yes, I agree. No more using my powers unless and until you say that it's okay. I know that I don't deserve another chance, but thank you for giving me one. Thank you so much!"

She ran up to Donald and hugged him tightly. My fists began to clench as I could feel my jealousy rising. She looked right at me as she sensed my eyes burning into the back of her head and mouthed the words "I'm sorry."

She immediately let him go and looked at me apologetically. I started to smile at her again as I realized that she hadn't been trying to hit on him this time.

Donald smiled at her, and I could tell that he had grown fond of her. I think that he already thought of her as another companion now and was a little more forgiving of her than he would be of others who had done similar things.

Plus she was just a kid. She was still very young and naïve. If I knew Donald though and I did, I knew that he saw it as his job to teach her and help keep her from becoming a possible menace to the universe in the future. He was big on that kind of thing. He always sees himself as molding peoples' minds and expanding them whenever he takes on a new companion especially a young one. It appeals to his ego to believe that he's being a positive influence on people.

"I'm sorry," Lydia said to Christina again.

"Don't worry about it," Christina said as she smiled at her.

It appeared as if Lydia and Christina were in the early stages of becoming friends despite what had happened or maybe even because of it. That was good for Lydia but bad for me. If she started making friends with Donald's favorites, I might never get rid of her.

At least I could console myself with the fact that she was no longer interested in Donald but in Matt instead. I could see her starting to stare at Matt again with that 'come-hither' look on her face that she always had on whenever she looked at him.

Matt meanwhile looked like he wanted to run and hide whenever she looked at him that way. Especially when Charlotte would give Christina the evil eye just like she was at that moment. Charlotte wasn't the only one either. I also saw Joan staring at Christina like she used to do to me whenever she was still after Donald. Apparently she had set her sights on Matt as well. I didn't envy him. The poor boy was like a lamb going to the slaughter, and he more than likely didn't even know it. He was the Doctor after all or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

"So who do you think will wind up getting him?" Megan said to me as she came up behind me.

"I hope Joan does," I said without thinking and shocked myself as I realized that it was true.

"I'm surprised. I would have thought that you would have said that you didn't care one way or the other," Megan said.

"Did I hear right? Did River Song actually say that she wanted Joan Redfern to win Matt's hearts? Where is River, and what have you done with her?" Astrid joked.

"I know. I know. I'm getting soft. I just would like it if somehow the universe made it up to Joan for losing Donald. I know what it's like to lose a Doctor after all," I said.

Megan and Astrid had become my closest friends on Donald's crew with Polly and Ace gone, and we often got together to talk like this about what was going on with the others on the TARDIS. I had become so at ease around both of them that I almost felt like myself around them. I almost never really felt like myself except around my family. I usually put on a tough girl act around most people and hardly ever gave them a glimpse of the real me. That slip of the tongue about Joan just proved how close to them both that I had become.

"I think it might just be Christina. She's really set her mind on him," Astrid said.

"Bite your tongue. It's bad enough that she convinced Donald to store that bus of hers in the TARDIS. I still don't know how he got it in here. This would be even worse than that. She'd turn poor Matt every which way but loose if she ever got ahold of him. It would be like a ten ton truck hitting a baby deer. He'd never even know what hit him," I said with a grin.

"Maybe he wouldn't care," Megan said with a giggle.

"I think he would. Besides that, our mysterious Charlotte would definitely have something to say about that. She hates Christina with a passion,' I observed.

"Do you have any ideas on exactly who she is?" Astrid asked.

"Not completely, but she's not who she seems to be. I know that much. She's trying to hide her identity by putting on a fake personality where she has Matt thinking that she's all meek, quiet, and shy. She's not though. That outburst with Christina proved that. She lost her cool and showed her true colors just for a second when Christina confronted her. I think it opened up Matt's eyes. Did you see the look that he gave her when she exploded?" I said.

"Yes, I did. I also saw the look that she gave him though. She was terrified but not in an 'I've been caught' kind of way. She looked like she was more terrified of losing him," Megan said.

"I agree. I think she actually does care about him and isn't out to harm him in any way. I could be wrong though," Astrid said.

"That's the way it seems to be to me too. I don't understand why she's hiding who she is though if she's not out to do anything to him. Although you're right about how she feels about him, Astrid. If she were out to harm him, she would have already done something to him a long time ago. She's had two years after all. The only thing that I can think of is that she's someone that he knows that has somehow changed her appearance. My theory is she's trying to change her personality to go along with that change in appearance so that he doesn't realize who she really is. Why she's hiding her identity though is what I haven't discovered yet. If I knew that, I'd probably be able to find out her true identity. Rest assured though, girls, that sooner or later I will know. She'd better not be a threat to any of us when that day comes or she'll regret it," I promised.

"I just don't feel that she is though. I get the feeling that she isn't out to do anything malicious especially not to Matt. I think she's in love with him," Megan said.

"I know she is. That's why I haven't told Donald to boot her. At least not yet anyway. That and Matt would probably pout about it if I tried to without giving him a very good reason. He probably wouldn't even do it then," I said.

"I know who she is," Lydia said as she broke into our conversation.

"I said no reading minds," I reminded her.

"I found out before you said that. I can definitely tell you that she's not a threat to any of us. Everything else that you've guessed about her is completely right though," Lydia said.

"Who is she?" Astrid asked.

"No, don't tell us," I ordered.

"Why not?" Megan asked with irritation.

"I want to figure it out for myself. As long as I know that she's not up to anything, that's all I care about for the moment. I have to admit that it's intriguing to me to not know everything for once. I welcome the challenge," I said with a massive smile on my face.

"You'll never guess it," Lydia said smugly.

"I bet I will," I said.

"How much do you want to bet?" Lydia asked as she began to grin.

"I'll bet five pounds," I said.

"Is that all? Surely it's worth more than that to you," Lydia said.

"I'll give you a trip to anywhere that you want to go with my Vortex Manipulator if I can't find out who she is by myself without any help from you," I said.

"You're on!" Lydia said.

She looked so sure of herself. She really thought that she was going to win. Now I had to win or I'd never hear the end of it. I was going to make it my personal mission to find out who our Miss Charlotte was from now on.

Then I heard the words that almost made me pass out. The next thing that I heard Ishtar say made me want to fall down and kiss her feet in jubilation. I bet you can already see this coming a mile away, can't you?

"I see that Reinette is still with you. She's endangering the timestream the longer that she stays in this time. She has to go back to her time now in order to preserve history," I heard Ishtar say to Donald as she looked at Reinette.

"Are you sure? I just wanted to give her an adventure and a little bit of closure to what we both went through together," Donald said.

I immediately ran over to Ishtar's side as I said speaking very quickly, "Don't argue with the nice woman, Donnie. If she says that Reinette has to go then Reinette has to go! There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. She knows what she's talking about. I mean she is the White Guardian now after all."

"You'd ally yourself with Davros if he said that Reinette had to go," Donald said with a frown.

"I certainly would. Even Davros is better than her," I said without hesitation.

"How long does she have?" Donald asked.

"I'll give her one more day, and then I'll have to take her home. I'm sorry. I know that she's a friend of yours. Oh, and one more thing. She has to have her mind erased of everything that's happened to her since Jenny picked her up back in Paris. She can't remember meeting you and the Doctor," Ishtar said.

"Do you have to do that? I'd really rather you didn't," Donald said.

"It has to be done to preserve the timeline. I'm sorry, Donald," Ishtar said.

"Come back in twenty-four hours then. I'm going to give her one last adventure. I want her to have that even if she won't be able to remember it afterwards," Donald said sadly.

"She'll remember it in her heart, Donald. Get her ready for it. Tell her what you feel you should," Ishtar said.

Then she vanished right in front of our eyes. I never looked forward to someone coming back more in my life.

"I at least wanted her to remember. Now I have to go tell her what's going on," Donald said sadly.

I was conflicted. I felt bad that Donald was losing his friend. On the other hand though, I was happy to see her go. I wasn't sure what to feel now.

Yeah, right! Reinette's leaving in twenty-four hours! Yes!

**Next: Reinette is told what's about to happen to her, and she asks to go see the Doctor one last time. Needless to say Rose is not too happy about it. Will she wind up telling Reinette exactly how she feels about her? For that matter, will River? Why is everyone suddenly telling the truth lately no matter how hard they don't want to anyway? Could it be that something's going on? You bet there is! **


	17. Donald Never Says Never

CHAPTER 17

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

DONALD NEVER SAYS NEVER

I watched with barely disguised glee as Donald told Reinette what was about to happen to her. Only twenty-four hours and then no more Reinette! Forever!

I don't think I've been this happy since I married the Doctor.

Donald was far from happy though. I could tell that he was very upset to be telling Reinette that she had to go home and even worse that she had to forget what she had done in the future. He actually liked her for some reason. Neither Rose or I have ever been able to figure out why though.

It's one of the few things that both of us can agree on. We both just downright loathe her. That's really saying something too when even Little Mary Sunshine can't stand someone since she's so warm and loving with most people.

See? It's not just me.

After Donald finished telling her what Ishtar had told him, Reinette remained very silent for a moment. She looked so mournful that I almost felt something for her. Almost.

"I'm so sorry, Reinette. If it were up to me, you could stay as long as you wanted," Donald said.

Bite your tongue!

"I know. I was going to leave soon anyway though so that's not what's bothering me. I want to remember. I don't want to go back to thinking that I never saw you again. You have no idea how overwhelmingly sad that made me sometimes. Why can't I be allowed to remember? I would still write the letter to you, and I would never tell anyone what I saw. Why can't I be allowed to have peace of mind?" Reinette said in an extremely sad voice.

"It's to maintain the timeline. I agree that you should be allowed to remember though. I know that you wouldn't alter history. I'm sorry! I wish that it didn't have to be this way," Donald said as he embraced her.

Reinette started crying then and even I had to turn away. I don't like her, but even I won't smile at her pain. I had to admit that I felt just a tad bit sorry for her at that point. Just a little. A smidgen.

"Can I see the other Doctor before I have to go?" Reinette asked through her tears.

"Of course you can. You can do anything you want to," Donald said.

"Thank you," Reinette said in an emotion filled voice.

As Donald went to the console to contact the Doctor, Megan walked up to me and said, "I feel so bad for her. I wish she could be allowed to remember."

Astrid looked sad as well as she added, "I feel bad too. I can't say that I like her that much, but I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

"Will you two stop it? Are you her biggest fans all of a sudden?" I said.

"I never have understood why you hate her so much, River. She's never been a threat to you as far as I can see. Donald loves you and only you," Megan said.

"I don't hate her. I actually feel bad for her. I hate the fact that he ever loved anyone else before me. That's why I act the way that I do around her. She's a constant reminder that I wasn't always the most important woman in Donald's life. I'm jealous of her. I know it's small and petty, but I can't help it," I said suddenly before I realized what I was saying.

I put my hand over my mouth and my eyes were suddenly wide open with shock as I realized that I had just told the complete truth for once. I knew right away that something was wrong. I almost never tell the complete truth. I sometimes leave out something or misdirect people at times even if I don't outright lie about things.

"Did you just admit how you really feel about me?" Reinette said behind me.

I turned to see her standing there and knew that she had just heard everything that I had just said. I wasn't embarrassed though. I was more concerned with why I was suddenly telling the truth than I was with what Reinette was going to say to me at that moment.

"Yes," I admitted.

"Is that why you're so cold towards me? I always wondered about that. You do a good job of not showing your true feelings for Donald's sake, but I always knew. I could just never understand why," Reinette said.

"I'm sorry that you heard that. I don't even know why I said it," I said.

There goes that horrible truth thing again.

"You said it because it's the truth. Now I'm going to tell you the truth. I did love the Doctor, but he never loved me. Not really. I saw what was in his mind. It was Rose. It was always Rose. He was using me to drive her away because he wanted her to live a normal life. He thought that she would be better off without him. Also he didn't want to have to say good bye. He didn't want to have to watch her die someday," Reinette said.

"He never wants to say good bye. He has a real problem with losing people. You can never even let him see you age, or it will drive him nuts," I said.

"Do you know why?" Reinette asked.

"Yes. Arkytior," I said.

"Exactly. After losing her, he never wanted to grow that close to someone and then lose them again. Her death hurt him so badly that he almost died from the heartbreak of it. He never wanted to go through that again so that is why he tried to push Rose away by using me. He wanted to end their relationship before he had to lose someone else that he loved that much like he did with Arkytior," Reinette said.

"You know him almost as well as I do," I said with a small amount of newfound respect in my voice.

"I want you to know that I was never here to steal Donald from you. In fact, I wanted the two of you to be together. You're very good for him. I know now that Louis was always going to be the only one for me in the end," Reinette said.

"How about we set things aside? I won't say that we're friends, but I'm not your enemy either," I offered.

Reinette smiled at me as she said, "I agree. I'm glad that you no longer harbor any ill will towards me."

Then she hugged me! I looked at Megan and Astrid with a mortified expression on my face, and I could see that they were both struggling not to laugh at me.

I looked across the room to see that Donald was looking at me like he was proud of me. I had to say that almost made the feeling of being that close to Reinette worth it. Almost.

Our TARDIS landed in the UNIT parking lot, and we saw the Doctor's TARDIS already there on the monitor. I swear that I could feel Rose's anger even before I went outside.

I was soon proven right when I saw the look on her face as soon as we went outside. She was not happy to say the least. Rose was probably the one person in the universe who held a bigger grudge against Reinette than me.

"I'm sorry about what's about to happen," the Doctor said to Reinette with a sad expression on his face.

"I just wish that I could be allowed to remember that I saw you again. I especially want to remember what happened to Nicolas. I don't want to think that I lost both of you without ever getting to see you again to say good bye," Reinette said.

"It's just the way that it has to be. The Web of Time has to be maintained. At least you'll get to keep some of your memories of us anyway. That's a better fate than Donna would have gotten if Rose hadn't helped her," the Doctor said.

Reinette looked at Rose with hesitation for a moment without speaking until finally she said, "Ishtar is another version of you. Could you talk to her and convince her to allow me to keep my memories?"

"No," Rose said.

"What?" both the Doctor and Donald said at once with shock on their faces.

"I don't like her. I never liked her. She tried to take you away from me, and I'll never forgive her for it. I don't care if she does lose her memory. It's the least of what she deserves for trying to break us up," Rose said.

Then it was her turn to act shocked as she realized what she had just said. The truth virus or whatever it was had just struck again. I knew that something was wrong when it seemed like I had been made to tell the truth against my will. Now Rose was doing it too. What was going on here? Was Lydia already breaking her promise not to use her powers?

"I wasn't trying to break you up. I was never interested in a long term relationship. I knew that he was yours. Even then he clearly belonged to you. He wanted to use me to make you go home and live a normal life. He never had any real feelings for me. I didn't realize that of course until later. At the time, I was only interested in playing the same role with him that I do with Louis. I thought that was what he wanted as well," Reinette explained.

"Rose, I already explained all of this to you a long time ago. You don't need to be so angry at Reinette," the Doctor said.

Stop trying to ruin all of the fun, Doctor!

"I can't help it. All I can remember every time that I see her is how you acted when you were around her and how you almost got trapped with her back in the past forever. You just left me there on that spaceship, Doctor. Every time I see her, I can't help but think of that," Rose said.

"I'm sorry. I was an idiot. I'll freely admit that," the Doctor said.

"I am sorry as well. I never meant to hurt you, Rose. I never thought about what I did affecting you this way," Reinette apologized.

I could see that Rose hadn't quite let go of her anger but she was trying to. This was Rose after all. Miss Sweetness and Light just doesn't know how to hold a grudge properly. When I hold a grudge, it usually ends with me using my fist, my foot, or my gun.

"I'll ask her," Rose finally said with a forced smile on her face.

She left in a golden burst of light, and both Doctors looked at her with pride on their faces. What was it about not wanting to disappoint the Doctor that could make you do almost anything no matter how distasteful it was to you personally?

While Rose was away, I quickly found Lydia and cornered her behind the TARDIS. I had to know what was going on here with this sudden spontaneous outburst of truth telling that was going around.

"Alright, spill it. Why is everyone suddenly telling the truth? Are you doing this?" I asked her.

"No, but I know who is. It's Mum. She wants everything to come out in the open and for there to be no unresolved issues left with Reinette for anyone. She's trying to clean up all of the loose ends before she sends her back home. She does that kind of thing," Lydia explained.

"Is it just the two of us who are affected by this truth business? Or is it everyone?" I asked as I started to get a few wicked ideas in my head.

"Everyone. What are you up to?" Lydia asked with a grin.

"I'm going to find out a few things right now while I still have the chance," I said.

"Good luck, Riv," Lydia said.

I marched right up to Charlotte as I said, "Who are you? I know you're not who you say you are."

Charlotte was taken completely by surprise as she said, "I'm . . ."

Then she somehow stopped herself from saying anything further. I could tell that she had realized that she was about to tell the truth against her will.

"What have you done?" Charlotte asked as she suddenly became filled with terror.

"Nothing. Someone else has done it. I'm just taking advantage of it," I said with a huge grin.

"You mustn't. No one must know who I am. You don't understand what might happen to me if I tell the truth," Charlotte said.

"What I want to know is what you're doing here. Are you here to do something to Matt or Donald?" I asked.

"No. I don't want to do anything to anyone. That's why I'm here. I must stay hidden. She must never find me," Charlotte said in fear.

"Who?" I asked.

"I'm talking about the woman who must never find me. I don't want to be drawn back into her sick games. I don't want to ever be used by her again," Charlotte said.

"You're telling the truth but still leaving out the key facts. That's exactly what I would do," I said appreciatively.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just want to stay buried. Just let it go, River. You don't know what you'll unleash if you don't," Charlotte warned.

"Is that a threat?" I asked.

"No. I'm just telling you what would happen. It would be my greatest fear come true. My life would be ruined," Charlotte said.

"I'll let it go then. For now," I said as I realized that even the truth spree wasn't going to get anything more out of her.

I still had one final question for her though. It was one that I couldn't resist asking.

"Are you in love with Matt?" I asked suddenly and without warning.

"Yes. He's the only person that I've ever loved. I'd like to rip Christina apart every time that she looks at him!" Charlotte said without thinking about it.

I smiled at her with a wicked grin as she glared at me for getting her to admit that. Even as I walked away from her, I knew that her eyes were burning into the back of my head in resentment.

Mission accomplished.

Now I just had one last thing to find out. I was sure of what the answer would be, but I had to ask anyway.

I walked up to Matt and asked, "Do you love Charlotte?"

"Yes, but only as a friend. Why? Is she in love with me?" Matt asked.

"She did say something about ripping Christina apart. What do you think that means?" I said.

"Oh, that's just because Christina rubs people the wrong way. She had a little tiff with the authorities when I first met her. She's not that bad a person though when you get to know her. In fact, I think that she's a lot like you, River," Matt said.

"You need to stop right there, or I may do something that I'll regret later," I warned him.

"You know it's true," Matt said.

"I know that you think it's true anyway," I said.

"What?" Matt asked.

"It's nothing important. Just that no one can lie for a while. That's all," I said in a nonchalant voice as I walked away.

"I'd better go hide in the TARDIS then until it's over," Matt said with a fearful expression on his face.

I laughed at him as I walked back over to Donald. Donald kissed me as he asked, "What are you up to?"

"I'm just finding out a few things that I've been dying to know for a while. That's all," I said.

"You know you're so beautiful to me when you're up to something. I just love that mischievous look on your face. I can't resist it," Donald said as he kissed me again.

"What? This look?" I asked as I grinned at him evilly.

"That's the one. I love you, Melody," Donald said as he kissed me again.

"I was glad that Donald had just confirmed how he really felt about me without knowing it. I already knew if of course, but a little confirmation never hurt either.

The day came and went as Reinette went to visit Nicolas and said good bye to him one more time. Nicolas was upset that she was losing her memory but was glad that she would at least remember their time together back in the past.

According to Lydia, Ishtar was only going to erase everything that happened from the day that Jenny had first found them through to this one. Reinette would still remember what they had done together before that and for that he was grateful. She would never know where he went to though after he left the past. It would be just like his father all over again. That was the part that he hated. He didn't want to add to Reinette's pain.

After seeing Nicolas one last time, Reinette suddenly found herself facing Ishtar. She knew that this was the end.

"You didn't change your mind?" Reinette asked.

"No. I'm sorry. I don't want to do this, but time has to be returned as it was before Jenny found you and changed things," Ishtar said.

"Please! I want to remember," Reinette pleaded.

Ishtar whispered something that none of us could hear into her ear, and she smiled a little. Then she finally nodded as she said, "Go ahead."

Ishtar made a single gesture at her and wiped her memories of our time instantly. As Reinette stood there looking at us with a blank look on her face, both of them vanished as Ishtar took her back home at last.

Donald looked so sad that I couldn't help but give him a tender kiss as I said, "She's going to be alright. Her life will go back to what it was before."

"I just wanted her to remember," Donald said.

Then he got a wicked look on his face, and I said, "Now what are you up to? That's your devious face."

"You'll see. Allons-y!" Donald shouted as he charged into his TARDIS while dragging me along with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked even though I was sure that I already knew.

"To the one point in time where it won't matter if she knows," Donald said.

The TARDIS materialized in Reinette's room on the last day of her life as she lay alone on her death bed. Donald put his hands on her face as he said, "Remember."

Reinette woke up from her sleep and smiled as she saw and recognized Donald. Donald hugged her tightly as he said, "I always find a way around the rules when I can, Reinette."

"Thank you, Donald. I knew that you would come," Reinette said in a weak voice.

"How?" Donald asked.

"Ishtar told me. She said that you would come and find me at the end. She said that you would make sure that I remembered again just before I died. That's the only reason that I went with her. Thank you, my lonely angel," Reinette said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Then she slowly slipped off to what would be her final sleep.

You know she really wasn't so bad after all.

**Next: River receives a visit from someone who's even a surprise to her for once. Readers of Bad Wolves will already know who I'm talking about I'm sure.**


	18. Eve of Destruction?

CHAPTER 18

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

EVE OF DESTRUCTION?

After Reinette's loss, Donald moped around the TARDIS for several days; and I wasn't sure how to snap him out of it. I even suggested going somewhere to life his spirits, but he wasn't in the mood.

Can you imagine that? Donald not in the mood to travel anywhere! It was against the laws of nature.

I decided to go traveling by myself in order to lift my own spirits which turned out to be a huge mistake. I wound up getting in a fight with a Plasmavore and losing. That's a story for my mother's title though. I certainly don't want to recount my losses here. I'd rather tell a happier story. At least it started out happy anyway, and then it quickly became something else entirely.

"Donald, are you ever going to start traveling again? I realize that what happened to Reinette upset you, but you've got to go back to normal sometime. How about we go to the Planet of the Sweets? You know that you love it there," I said as I appealed to his sweet tooth.

"Yeah, I do have an urge for some new jelly babies. I've almost run out of those. I only have three bags of them left now," Donald said.

"That's all the more reason for you to go then. You'll have those all eaten up by the end of the hour," I said grinning.

"I'm not that bad," Donald said.

"Please! I've seen you eat a bag of jelly babies like you're inhaling it," Megan said.

"See?" I said as I smiled my appreciation to Megan for her help.

"I guess you're right. I do need to refuel. If I go for too long without jelly babies, I become very hard to live with," Donald said.

I started to say something sarcastic, but Donald quickly interrupted me as he said, "No smart remarks, Melody. I'm not in the mood."

My smile faded as I said, "I thought that maybe you were coming back to your old self again."

"Just give me a little time, Melody. I just need a little more time. At least I'm finally going somewhere though, right?" Donald said with a small smile that only flashed for an instant.

"Yeah, I guess that's some progress. I should know that not even this could keep you from your precious jelly babies. I swear that you'd leave in the middle of a fight with the Daleks just so you could go buy some more sweets when you run out," I said with a chuckle.

"That only happened once," Donald protested.

"He gets even worse than that about them in the future. Trust me," a young woman's voice suddenly said.

Everyone in the Console Room turned around in surprise to see a young woman with curly blonde hair standing almost right next to me. I looked at her in complete surprise as I wondered how she got that close to me without me realizing it.

As I stared at her and took in the details of her face, I noticed that she looked very familiar to me. I couldn't for the life of me remember where I had seen her before. Then I realized that I didn't go for my gun or feel even the slightest bit alarmed around her. I actually felt as if I could trust her somehow without ever having seen her before in my life.

That bothered me a lot since I was distrustful of almost everyone due to the way that I had been raised by Kovarian. I had to constantly fight the urge to pull my gun whenever I met someone new. Yet this woman didn't raise any alarms in my mind whatsoever.

"Who are you?" I asked her suspiciously.

"I can't tell you that," the woman said.

"Sure you can if you want to be able to get out of here anytime soon," I said with a threatening look on my face.

The young woman only smiled as she said, "Oh, that's a good one. I love that look. That one always used to get me to confess to anything when I was a kid."

Then she hit herself in the head as she said, "I can't believe I just said that. I'm terrible with spoilers."

A huge grin started to spread over my face as I started to suspect who she must be. Donald of course remained completely clueless as usual.

"So you're someone that Melody knows in the future. Is that it? You haven't been born yet?" Donald asked.

"No, I haven't. In fact, my parents aren't even married yet. I don't think," the young woman said as she looked at me for confirmation, and I shook my head.

"Why are you here then? If your parents aren't even together yet, then you could wind up erasing your own existence if you meet them. They might never get together if you interfere," Donald lectured her.

"They're already together. They just haven't made it official yet," the woman said.

"You're still endangering your own timeline by doing this. Your father must be an idiot to let you do this," Donald said.

"Trust me. He is," I said with a huge grin.

"You know him then?" Donald asked me.

"Very well actually," I said.

"I'd like a word with him. I'd really like to give him a piece of my mind for endangering his daughter this way," Donald said in an angry voice.

"I'd love to see that actually," I said as I began to laugh.

"He's not endangering me. He doesn't even know that I'm here. Well, the version of him that I know isn't anyway," the woman said.

That was the biggest clue as to who she was yet, but it still went straight over Donald's head. He still had no clue to who she was yet.

"You're being very reckless then, young lady. You should know better than that. Don't you have any sense?" Donald said as he started lecturing the young woman.

"If she does, she didn't get it from her father," I joked.

"Here it comes. The lecture," the woman said as she rolled her eyes.

I started to smile as I could see a small glimpse of what I had to look forward to in the future. Donald yelling at our daughter, and her rolling her eyes at him and ignoring him. It was a normal family, more or less. I started to tear up as I watched them. I never thought that I would ever have a family of my own. It was a beautiful sight.

"Mum, are you okay?" the young woman said as she momentarily forgot herself.

She put her arms around me and embraced me as I embraced her back. I kissed her cheek as I said, "I'm fine. I'm just happy that's all."

"Mum?" Donald said in shock as he stared at both of us.

"Are you sure that you're okay? You never cry," my daughter said with concern.

"I'm just happy to finally meet you. I'm fine," I said as I smiled at her.

"I know that I shouldn't have come here, but I just decided to drop by and see what the two of you were like before I was born. I couldn't resist seeing you when you were young. Did I do the wrong thing?" my daughter asked.

"No, it's alright. You really need to learn how to keep secrets better though. You're horrible at it," I said.

"I can't help it. I just hate keeping things from people. I always have. I'm a terrible liar," she admitted.

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

"I know. The daughter of River Song can't lie. It's so ironic that it isn't even funny, is it?" my daughter said.

"It is kind of funny actually," Astrid said.

"Yeah, it's like the universe played its own twisted little trick on you!" Megan said.

Donald just kept staring at our daughter until he finally said, "I know that I shouldn't ask, but are you my . . . ?"

"Hey, Dad!" our daughter said happily as she waved at him.

"You could have erased yourself by coming here. I'm glad that you did though," Donald said as he hugged her.

"So you're a terrible liar, are you, Dorothy?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. I couldn't tell a lie if my life depended on it," Dorothy said.

Then she looked at me with a grin as she said, "Good one, Mum. You tricked me. I prefer to be called Dot though. It helps avoid confusion between me and Aunt Dorothy."

"That's wonderful for her, but I'm not calling you Dot," I said firmly.

"No, you never do," Dorothy said with a sigh.

"I was just about to go to the Planet of the Sweets if you'd like to come along," Donald said.

"Of course I would. I haven't had anything with chocolate in it in at least five minutes. I can already feel myself going through withdrawal symptoms," Dorothy joked.

As Donald set the coordinates into the console, Dorothy suddenly remembered something and had a look of panic on her face. I could tell that something was wrong before she even opened her mouth.

"Where are we in your timeline?" Dorothy asked.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," I said.

"You already said that you weren't married yet, but this is obviously after you get together. What just happened recently? Reinette isn't here. Is she?" Dorothy asked.

"She's gone," I said.

"The Plasmavore? Have you done that yet?" Dorothy asked with panic rising in her voice.

"Yes. Recently as a matter of fact," I said as I began to get worried at the sound of fear in her voice.

"No. I shouldn't be here. I came to the wrong time. Why didn't future you warn me?" Dorothy asked.

"You said that your Dad didn't know that you came," I said.

"Yes, but you did. I always tell you everything. Why didn't you tell me not to come?" She asked.

"I have no idea since I don't even know what it is that you're talking about," I said.

Dorothy waged an internal war with herself for a moment, and I knew that there was something that she wanted to tell me. I saw her give me a pain-filled look, and I wanted to do something, anything to take that look off of her face.

"Tell me what's bothering you," I implored her.

"You always say not to try to change the future. If you know that something bad is about to happen and don't act to change it doesn't that make you just as guilty as if you caused it yourself?" She asked.

"You can't tell us what it is, Dorothy. Don't say a word," Donald warned.

"It's going to be bad. I feel like I should stop it while I still have a chance. I don't want it to happen," Dorothy said as she began to cry.

"You can't tell us," Donald said.

"He's right. You have to keep it to yourself," I said.

"I can't stay here and see this. I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't go with you, Mum, Dad. I'm so sorry!" Dorothy said as she punched some coordinates into her Vortex Manipulator and quickly disappeared.

I later found out from Dorothy herself that she went straight to the future me and shouted, "Why did you do that to me?!"

"You were supposed to be there, Dorothy. I remember you being there. That's why. I'm sorry that I had to upset you. It bothers me now just as much as it did back then to see you upset," the future me said to her as she embraced her.

"I wanted to save her, Mum. I wanted to so much," Dorothy said.

"I know. You couldn't though. There's no telling what damage to the timestream that you might have done if you had warned them. I know it's hard and it hurts, but you have to learn right now not to interfere," the future me said.

"Dad, Uncle Theta, and Aunt Rose do all of the time though," Dorothy protested.

"Yes, but they know what they're doing. Most of the time. You don't yet. Trust me. You did the right thing," the future me said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Dorothy said.

"It never does," the future me said.

Back in the present day, I couldn't help but wonder just what Dorothy had gotten so upset about even as Donald tried to change the subject by asking, "So you're naming our future child after Ace?"

"Yes, she's a good friend of mine. I couldn't think of a better person to name her after when the time comes," I said.

"Me either," He confided.

"So when are you going to propose to me already? What are you waiting for? Are you still searching for a large enough ring to give to me?" I asked as I teased him.

"I want it to be something special when I finally do propose. I want it to be at the right time. It wasn't the right time after Reinette, and I suspect that it won't be the right time anytime soon either after whatever upset Dorothy so much occurs," Donald said.

"We always have bad times. If you keep waiting on us to have a good one, then we're never going to get married," I said.

"I know. I just want to pick the right moment though," Donald said.

"When will that be?" I asked.

"I don't know yet," Donald replied.

"When will you know? Or do you not know that yet either?" I asked with a laugh.

"I'll know it when I see it," Donald said.

"Oh, so you're going by hunches now, are you?" I asked amused.

"Yeah, something like that," Donald said.

Astrid looked upset as she said, "What was your daughter talking about?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't allow her to tell us," Donald said.

"You should have. Why didn't you?" Astrid asked.

"We aren't supposed to know too much about our own future," Donald said.

"It's okay to know about children that haven't been born yet though. Or is it just that you can know your own future, but no one else is supposed to know theirs?" Astrid asked in a panicking voice.

"Astrid!" I said.

"She's only saying out loud what we're all thinking. I've been thinking it myself. If it happens to me though, I'm resigned to it. I've long since lived past my own lifetime after all. I'm already living on borrowed time," Megan said.

"I'm sorry. I just . . . I don't want to die. I was trapped for so long, and I couldn't do anything. I was captured by the Silence for so many years, and I don't want to die now after finally regaining my freedom," Astrid said in a voice filled with terror.

"We don't know for sure that anyone is going to die," I said.

"It certainly sounded like it," Astrid said.

"I don't want to die either. Not without telling someone important to me how I feel about them first," Joan said as she looked at Matt.

Christina looked at Matt as well with a determined look in her eyes. I was later to learn that she was feeling the same way herself at that time.

Charlotte meanwhile wondered if Dorothy's words might mean something else besides actual physical death. It might mean something even worse. What if someone were to die in another way where they didn't physically die, but they might as well have? She didn't even want to think about it.

I could tell from the expression on her face that Lydia was wondering if it was possible for her to die since she was only half-Eternal. I had no answer for that question unfortunately.

"Whatever it is, there's nothing that we can do about it. We might as well accept that," I said.

In the future, it turned out that future me was saying the exact same thing to Dorothy. She didn't like it any more than Astrid did when she heard it from me. Only in Dorothy's case, she reacted much more violently.

"I don't accept that! I'm going to do something about it!" Dorothy screamed as she used her Vortex Manipulator to go back to the present day me.

Future me could only look at the spot where she had just been standing with sadness as she said, "You're doing the same thing that you did before. I'm sorry, Dorothy. I was trying to change things myself, but apparently I can't. I was hoping that you wouldn't have to be there this time when it happened."

**Next: River and Donald are about to have something happen to yet another member of their crew. Who is it and why? What does Dorothy do to try to stop it, and can she succeed? Even if she does, will it only make things worse? **


	19. She's Your Daughter

CHAPTER 19

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your reviews, favorites, follows, and story alerts.**

SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER

Dorothy suddenly appeared in front of us with a look of determination on her face, and I knew right then and there that she was about to tell us all the future whether we wanted her to or not. She actually was going to try and change it.

She was so much like me that I didn't know whether to be proud or very, very afraid.

Dorothy ignored the stern looks from me and Donald as she turned toward Astrid and said, "Aunt Astrid, you can't go any further. Come with me right now. Please!"

"Am I going to die?" Astrid asked as she began to panic.

"It'll be worse than that," Dorothy said.

"Dorothy, stop!" Donald warned.

"No, I want to know. Leave her alone. She's trying to help me," Astrid said in a voice filled with fear.

"Aunt Astrid, please come with me right now. I want to save you," Dorothy said in tears.

"Alright," Astrid said as she took Dorothy's hand uncertainly.

"Dorothy, you can't do this. You don't know what might happen if you change the future," I warned her.

"I know for sure what will happen if I don't," Dorothy said as she suddenly hugged Astrid tightly surprising her.

I could tell then that she was very close to Astrid and honestly wanted to help her. I could see nothing but love and concern in her eyes for her. I realized that my little girl's hearts were in the right place, but she was letting her emotions overrule her brain. That was always a dangerous thing.

Just look at the Doctor for a prime example of that.

"Are we close in the future?" Astrid asked even as the obvious answer was right in front of her as Dorothy continued to hug her tightly.

"You're going to become just like a second mom to me, and I'll learn to love you with all of my hearts. That's why I can't let anything happen to you," Dorothy admitted.

"What happens?" Astrid asked in a soft voice even as she began to put her arms around Dorothy and return her hug.

"Don't tell her. You still haven't reached the point of no return yet," I said.

Dorothy looked at me with such pain on her face that I almost relented and told her to go ahead and say whatever that she came here to tell Astrid anyway. I knew that I couldn't though no matter how much my heart went out to her.

"Please tell me. Please. I deserve to know. There must be some reason why you keep hugging me and won't let go," Astrid said.

"It's because this is the first time that I've ever gotten to hug you in my life," Dorothy finally said.

Astrid stiffened in horror as she finally realized along with the rest of us just what Dorothy was hinting at. She looked at me and Donald in growing anger as she shouted, "I'm not going back to what I was like before! I'm not!"

"You're right. You're not. You're a good person, and you don't deserve to have that happen to you!" Dorothy said firmly.

She raced to the console and flipped a few switches in an attempt to change something. Then she held onto Astrid tightly, and the two of them vanished as she quickly punched in some coordinates on her Vortex Manipulator.

"She's your daughter alright," Donald said with a frown.

"Yes, because you've never changed anything," I said sarcastically.

"I know better than to do what she just did," Donald said in an angry tone.

"I think that she did the right thing. I wouldn't want that to happen to Astrid either. I'd rather it was me that something happened to and not her," Megan said.

"We can't pick and choose what happens. We have to preserve the timestream no matter what even if we hate the ultimate result," Donald argued.

"You're being a bit rigid there I think, Frenchy. It could be that what she just did may result in a better timeline," Matt said.

"Or it may cause an unmitigated disaster," Donald protested.

"I can always trust you to overreact, can't I? You're so human," Matt said with a sigh.

"It's better than being a walking joke with a chin that you can land a TARDIS on who's so oblivious to what's going on around him that he doesn't even know that he has three women silently fighting over him in the background. Why I have no idea. You're not that great a catch," Donald grumbled.

To be honest, he was pretty oblivious too. He wouldn't even have known that anyone was interested in Matt himself if I hadn't told him. All of the Doctor's various selves are totally clueless as to what's going on around them at all times no matter how different that they are from each other.

"_Three_ women?" Matt asked in surprise.

To his credit, Matt looked at Charlotte knowingly even as she looked away from him in embarrassment. From the puzzled look on his face as he looked around the rest of the TARDIS though, I could tell that he had no idea who the other two women were.

"Don't look at me. I'm already taken," I said with a grin.

For once, Christina looked nervous and uncertain as she said, "Matt, I . . ."

"You're one of them?" Matt asked.

"Yes, I like you. You're not the Doctor that I first fell for, but you're still him in all of the ways that matter. I just wanted to say that I've come to care a great deal about you. I just wanted to ask you if you thought that a relationship between us might work out," Christina said with a terrified look on her face.

"I don't know. I honestly didn't know that you felt that way so I never thought about it. I like you as a friend, but I don't know about going any further than that," Matt said in a careful voice.

I could tell that he was trying very hard not to hurt Christina's feelings. Even he could tell that she was very emotional right now as she waited on his answer.

"Could you at least think about it?" Christina asked as she touched his shoulder with a nervous smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'll think about it," Matt said.

"Thank you," Christina said with a warm smile as she kissed his cheek and made him blush while Charlotte and Joan practically growled at her.

I would have been laughing my head off at this awkward moment if the situation with Astrid hadn't been going on at the same time. It kind of dampened my enthusiasm for the whole thing.

"Matt, I feel the same way," Joan said as she too finally began to open up now.

"You too?" Matt asked in surprise.

"I've regretted letting you go for a long time now. I know that you're not the same Doctor that I fell in love with but you're close enough to him where I really think that a relationship between us might work out. Please give me a second chance. I just want to have you back in my life. It's been so lonely without you," Joan said as she visibly tried very hard not to get upset.

Matt was obviously touched by her plea as he gently put his arm around her and stroked her hair to calm her. She smiled a little even as Charlotte and Christina shot her a look of death.

Even I was a little touched by this. I knew from Donald that the Doctor had unresolved feelings for Joan. I knew that he honestly did care about her. That's why Donald had let Joan come along. He wanted to make things up to her for the Doctor having to break her heart when he had to change back to his normal self.

"Could I have a little time to think it over?" Matt finally said when he thought that Joan was feeling a little calmer.

Joan smiled as she nodded. That was all that she had wanted apparently. Just another chance with the Doctor again, any Doctor.

Matt looked at Charlotte expectantly now, but she said nothing. She didn't really need to. It was obvious how she felt without her having to say anything about it. It showed in her every look at him. Well it did to anyone who could actually notice it anyway which didn't include any version of the Doctor who had ever lived of course.

Matt looked worried as he said, "I'll let you two know something soon. I just need a little time to think, okay?"

Both women nodded and were happy for the moment. Charlotte though looked far from happy. She just looked uncertain as if she had no idea what to do next. I noticed that she kept looking at something in her pocket that I couldn't see, and I wondered what was really going on with her. If only I could have convinced Lydia to tell me what she was up to. It would have made me feel a lot better about her.

What I couldn't see at the time was that Charlotte was looking at a silver fob watch. She was silently debating with herself whether to risk telling Matt the truth about her or not. She knew that she would have to if she wanted a real relationship with him.

Yep, she's exactly what you think that she is alright. Who she is though is the question. You're going to love the answer. I know I did when the time came. I have to admit that I never expected it. Not in a million years.

I found out later from Dorothy herself that she and Astrid had appeared back in Dorothy's time after they left us. They would soon find out that what Dorothy had just done had led to something happening to someone else that she cared about instead of to Astrid.

"This is the future?" Astrid asked.

"Yes. Don't worry. In just a minute, I'll take you back to a point in time right after you would have been exposed to that energy that changed you back to the way that you were when Mum first found you. I just wanted to come back here first just to make sure that nothing else happened because I changed things," Dorothy said.

Now she was thinking about that. That's my headstrong daughter at work apparently. Act first and think about asking questions later. She really is more like Donald than me if you ask me.

Not that that's a bad thing.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked as she followed Dorothy around while she frantically searched for something or someone.

"I can't find Mum and Dad. Where are they?" Dorothy said in a panic.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure where I'm at in the first place. Is this your Dad's TARDIS?" Astrid asked.

"Yes, it is, but it looks different now than it did when I left. Oh, no!" Dorothy said as the full effect of what she had just done began to hit her at last.

"Dorothy, just take me back," Astrid said.

"I don't want to unless I have to," Dorothy said stubbornly.

"I think that you may have to whether you want to or not. Something's happened," Astrid said.

"Dorothy, who are you talking to?" the future me said as she finally appeared.

It's weird to be narrating events that I wasn't actually present for even though I will be someday. It's just that I haven't actually gotten to them yet. Now, I'm starting to sound like Idris. That's wonderful.

The future me stopped short as she saw Astrid with Dorothy and said, "So you actually did it, didn't you?"

"What happened here? Everything looks different. Where's Dad?" Dorothy asked.

"Dorothy, I don't know for sure just what changes that you made from the reality that you lived in before, but in this reality your father can't travel around that much. He was badly injured near the Planet of the Sweets when the TARDIS almost exploded after it materialized too close to a neutron star by accident. Your father absorbed all of the radiation into himself that leaked into the Console Room while he fought to dematerialize the TARDIS as quickly as he could. It severally crippled him but didn't kill him. He couldn't even regenerate to fix himself even though I offered to give him one of mine several times. If Astrid had been there, she would have been able to absorb the radiation without him getting hurt. She disappeared though and didn't come back until after everything was done with no memory of what happened to her," the future me explained.

"I put in some new coordinates though so that the TARDIS wouldn't materialize near the star this time," Dorothy protested.

"It must not have worked. Maybe the Neutron Star's pull was too great for the TARDIS to avoid it," the future me said.

"I have to go back," Astrid said.

"If you do right now, then you could fix things so that Donald's okay. That's true. It has to be quick though. I think that your window of opportunity to undo this timeline is passing quickly. Soon what happened may become a fixed point in time if you don't go back," the future me said.

"If you go back, the radiation that you absorb will cause you to become stuck in your plasma form forever. I don't want my Dad to become crippled though," Dorothy said in tears.

"It's okay. Do it," Astrid said as she kissed Dorothy's forehead and hugged her.

"I'm sorry," Dorothy said as she took Astrid straight back to the TARDIS.

Dorothy suddenly realized something even as she took Astrid back though. If she got back in time, she might be able to prevent Donald from even going to the Planet of the Sweets in the first place! She had to go back to just before he materialized.

I was waiting expectantly as Dorothy and Astrid returned. I guessed that Dorothy must have failed to change whatever she had tried to prevent in order to save Astrid. It seemed that Astrid had won out and made her bring her back after all.

Just as they returned, Dorothy raced to the console and put in a series of new coordinates at lightning fast speed. The TARDIS began to jerk violently even as she did so.

"Is it still happening?" Astrid asked.

"Yes. I can't stop it no matter what I do," Dorothy said in a panic.

"Move back, sweetie. Let me get ready to contain the radiation when it comes in," Astrid said firmly.

"No, I can still save you! There's still time!" Dorothy said.

"What's going on?" I asked in complete confusion.

"We're about to materialize near a neutron star," Astrid explained.

"Let me in there. I'll fix it," Donald said as he tried to move Dorothy out of the way.

"No!" Dorothy screamed in terror as she held her father back with one hand while she continued to try to move the TARDIS out of harm's way with the other.

Then the radiation began to quickly seep in as the TARDIS materialized despite Dorothy's best efforts. She absorbed all of the radiation into herself even as Donald quickly took the TARDIS to safety.

Dorothy was horribly burned, and her body was badly damaged. Astrid looked at her in shock as she said, "You shouldn't have done that for me!"

"I love you," Dorothy said in a very weak voice as if that would explain everything.

Then she began to regenerate. She smiled as her body was fully healed, and a golden glow began to surround her. She hugged Astrid and said, "You're worth losing a life for."

Dorothy's body quickly transformed in front of me as energy flew out of her hands and head. She emerged from the regeneration with short hair the same color as her father's and a bit of a Scottish accent. I'm not sure where she got that from. She was also tall and skinny like Donald as well. It seemed that this version of her was like a female version of her dad all the way through. Perhaps it was because she was thinking of him when she changed.

"Dorothy, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Mum. I changed it. I can't believe it. I actually changed it! I saved her. I wonder if it will change my future a lot," Dorothy worried.

"I hope not. If it does, you could always come back and stay with me. I mean Rose's future kids practically live with the present version of her so why not mine?" I said with a grin.

"I might just take you up on that. I'll at least visit anyway. I'll see you around, Mum, Dad. Bye!" Dorothy said as she used the Vortex Manipulator to return home to the future.

As soon as she arrived there, she was grabbed from behind by a set of loving arms. She turned around in surprise to see that it was Astrid. She held her tightly as she said, "Thank you, sweetheart! Thank you!"

The future version of me was there as well alongside of the future Donald and shook her head at Dorothy with a huge smile on her face even as she said to the future Donald, "She's your daughter alright. She never gives up until everyone's saved."

**Next: Matt makes a decision that could change the lives of the three women who love him forever. Who will he pick? Also just who is Charlotte Avery really? Find out at last in the next chapter.**


End file.
